Known as 'Orués', the currency has been created by Russafa Innova, a non-profit organisation set up by the city’s residents to help officially launch it across the district. Local shoppers will now be able to visit one of these offices to open an Orué account, which will cost them €10 a year to use.

NFC technology will play a big part in the service, with consumers being offered numerous opportunities to experiment with it when accessing their account. Each customer will be credited 10 Orué credit when paying this fee, along with an NFC compatible card which will enable them to both make and receive payments. Russafa Innova has also designed a mobile app to run alongside the service, allowing users to also process payments through an NFC smartphone.

Enric Montesa, the Russafa resident leading the initiative, explained: "In relation to business to consumer, the Orué currency works as a system of loyalty, discounts and promotions and interaction can be done from one smartphone to another smartphone or from a smartphone to an NFC card.

"The smartphone acts as an NFC card reader. To communicate with the online banking server, a requirement is to install a specific application on the smartphone. A customer can pay a mix of euros and Orués; the former can be paid either by cash, check or credit or debit card. Orués will be paid using the Orué account via the NFC card or smartphone."