Entropia licences real-world banking

Entropia can handle real-to-virtual banking.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7954629.stm

Could SL?

Sure they can, and they are now. They just have to require, as they do now, that anyone trying to run a so-called "Bank" has to meet all the real-world requirements and regulations for running a bank in their home country. There's at least one "Bank" still running in SL. First Meta. They are properly registered and regulated as a bank in Singapore.

As we all know, a lot of the big banks operating in RL have turned out to be virtual banks with no money!

This isn't exactly what Second Life does now. Linden Lab makes deals with other parties for third-party provision of banking services. Entropia isn't going to deal with a third-party bank; it's going to be a bank.

Linden Lab gets by with shoddy services now because it doesn't damage anyone enough to make it worth someone's while to sue them or report them. And what Linden Lab is doing doesn't neaty fit into pre-established legal categories, so people aren't so clear on what their rights are. It would be insane for Linden Lab to invite all the potential legal liability that goes along with being a bank.

The main problem with a bank is that transactions never die. Offering a product or services, the customer pays the money, the seller provides the product or service, and their relationship is done, duties discharged. A bank is providing something ongoing- safeguarding money. The longer a transaction stays open, the more time there is for something to go wrong.

ha looks like entropia stole a page from LL actually... just ahead of the curve (reference lindex and GOM)

formerly Entropia offered to license existing banks to operate within it's virtual walls. guess they decided they could make better money offering the services themselves.