25 July, 2025

You’ve probably heard before that good deeds pay off. Well, if you’re in Switzerland, the government will help ensure that this really is the case.  

The country has introduced ‘time banking’, a model where people “deposit” hours spent helping others and “withdraw” that time when they themselves need help later in life. 

Here’s how it works: individuals support elderly community members (through errands, companionship, or care) and in return earn time credits. These credits are logged and can later be “spent” on receiving similar support when needed in their lives. 

This concept isn’t entirely new, as similar programmes exist elsewhere, often catering to needs beyond elderly care. But what makes it compelling is how it quietly addresses the challenges of traditional volunteering. By turning goodwill into tangible future security, it reframes volunteering not as a purely selfless act but as a form of social investment. It encourages people to think long term, acting in service of their future selves whilst building a culture of reciprocity rather than charity.  

We’ve written before about the power of designing for future thinking and nudging people to consider their future selves. Time banking may just be a smart and simple tool to do that, converting today’s good deed into tomorrow’s currency.

By Sirisha Venkatesh