Virtual Worlds: Another World, Another Business - People Are Using Avatars To Develop Businesses And Have Fun In Virtual Worlds, Such As Second Life. Karina Robinson Reports On The Growing Response From Banks And The Potential They Could Tap.

Banker, The, September, 2007 by Robinson, Karina

Byline: KARINA ROBINSON

Banks are formal institutions. Prospective male employees would surely wear a tie to an interview. Avatar Marty Dench, instead, strode in wearing his jeans and a T-shirt. Even more outrageously, half-way through the interview he changed into a suit. Mr Dench - real name Martijn Huisman - got the job. And Dutch bank ABN AMRO, his new employer, learned a bit more about the sort of people who use virtual worlds - three-dimensional computer simulations that look like computer games.

In an apparent paradox, the banks involved in virtual worlds such as Second Life, the largest one, see this as a way of connecting on a personal level with real and prospective customers as part of the social community or Web 2.0 phenomenon.

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