Updated
Updated · Euronews · Jul 29
SACO App Trades Skills in Minutes as Inflation Drives Cash-Free Exchange
Updated
Updated · Euronews · Jul 29

SACO App Trades Skills in Minutes as Inflation Drives Cash-Free Exchange

3 articles · Updated · Euronews · Jul 29

Summary

  • Two Spanish entrepreneurs built SACO to let users swap services without money, earning minutes for each task completed and spending that time on help from others in the app.
  • Rising inflation, higher living costs and broader economic uncertainty are pushing households toward barter-style exchanges that turn knowledge and spare skills into usable value.
  • SACO matches profiles ranging from tax advisers and AI specialists to language, music and cooking tutors, aiming to unlock abilities users often never monetize.
  • A rating system is meant to build trust, while the platform’s backers argue person-to-person exchanges still offer context and hands-on learning that AI tools cannot fully replace.
  • The app reflects a wider sharing-economy trend in which older barter principles are being revived digitally, with time rather than cash serving as the currency.

Insights

Can trading time instead of money really ease rising living costs, or do barter apps like SACO work only for certain skills and users?
Are apps like SACO reviving community exchange for the long term, or are they just a crisis response to inflation and uncertainty?
If every service is priced in minutes, who decides what expertise is truly worth in a digital barter economy?