The boss of a city firm has offered to pay his staff in gold rather than pounds as part of a new wages trial.
Cameron Parry, CEO of e-money provider TallyMoney, employs around 20 members of staff.
It isn’t compulsory for workers to sign up to the gold trial scheme, meaning they can continue to be paid in Sterling if they wish.
If someone does choose to get paid in gold, PAYE taxes are applied as normal, with the exchange rate for gold to pounds taken into account.
For example, a gross monthly salary that was previously £4,000 would be defined as 82,000 tally gross – 82,000 milligrams of gold – on their payslip.
The gold is denominated in “tally”, with each ‘tally’ representing one milligram of physical gold.
Mr Parry said: “With the cost of living crisis going from bad to worse, it didn’t make sense to continue offering pay hikes in pounds when its value is being eroded further with every passing day. It was like putting a bandaid over an open wound.
“We’re seeing the spending power of the pound continue to decline at an alarming pace whereas gold has been steadily rising in value throughout 2022.
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“Gold is a time-tested inflation hedge and has maintained its purchasing power for millennia.
“At times like these, when conventional money is steadily losing its buying power, gold offers people the best chance of keeping ahead of inflation.”
Tally became the first e-money provider to offer an account that was linked to the price of gold – not the value of the pound.
As the price of gold fluctuates, this means if the value of precious metals were to drop, your money would be worth less.
Because of this, critics have described Tally as more of an investment than a traditional savings account. With any sort of investment, your capital is at risk as your money can go up or down.
When funds are deposited into your account, those pounds (or euros or dollars) are used to purchase gold at the global wholesale price.
You can then spend that equivalent in shops or online using the Tally app or Tally Debit Mastercard.
However, it doesn’t come with Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection.
FSCS is an independent statutory organisation set up to reimburse customers up to a maximum of £85,000 if a bank fails.
Tally says it safeguards its customers’ money in gold and some fiat currency, which is held in a bank in Switzerland.
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