Contact Information: Contact Christian Björkman Director Special Projects MindArk PE AB mindbank@mindark.com Tel. +46 31 60 72 60 Michael Terpin Terpin Communications mindark@terpin.com Tel. +1 310-980-4676
Virtual World Developer MindArk Granted Real World Banking License
| Source: Entropia Universe
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN--(Marketwire - March 18, 2009) - The Swedish Financial Supervisory
Authority (Finansinspektionen) has granted a license to conduct banking
activities to virtual universe developer MindArk PE AB's wholly owned
subsidiary Mind Bank AB. The unique step of integrating MindArk's virtual
universe Entropia Universe with the real world will allow Mind Bank AB to
function as a central bank for all virtual worlds within the Entropia
Universe.
MindArk CEO Jan Welter Timkrans comments, "This is an exciting and
important development for the future of all virtual worlds being built,
using the Entropia Platform. Together with our partner planet owner
companies we will be in a position to offer real bank services to the
inhabitants of our virtual universe." This will take the integration
between real life and virtual life to a whole new level.
Mind Bank AB will be the first bank that fully incorporates real money
transactions with activities in a virtual world. Millions of transactions
can be processed by the bank for further transfer to MindArk and the
virtual universe. Mind Bank will also offer selected bank services to
customers on the conventional market.
About MindArk and Entropia Universe
Entropia Universe is an expanding entity of interoperable 3D virtual worlds
based on the proprietary Entropia Platform. Each virtual world takes the
form of a planet(s) within the virtual Entropia Universe.
The Entropia Platform contains full support for secure micro-transactions
in real-time, rich media viewing, transactions with real and virtual items,
MMOG entertainment and social interaction between global participants. Its
virtual currency, the PED, has a fixed exchange rate of 10:1 with the US
dollar.
The Entropia Platform has been developed for over 10 years at a cost of
over $40m. Commercially launched in 2003, MindArk's Planet Calypso has been
generating profit since 2004 and has served as a vehicle for fine tuning
the platform's business model and functionality. It has today over 820,000
registered accounts from over 200 territories. User to user transactions
within Entropia Universe exceeded USD $420m during 2008.
For more information, please visit www.mindark.com and
www.entropiauniverse.com.