Bartercard CIO Jason Van said his main concern for the company's progress into international trading involved replacing inefficient ERP software incapable of managing such a high number of transactions.

"There's no available software in the marketplace that caters for the volume of trade that we do - about A$2 billion (US$1.46 billion) in transactions annually," Van said. "My reasons for joining [Bartercard] weren't for [advancing] smartcard or Eftpos technology, but to clean up all the software in the trade exchange."

Van rejected foreign-owned software from the likes of SAP and Oracle, instead choosing to create applications tailored to Bartercard's specific needs.

As well as designing its own ERP system, the company created an online shopping mall similar to eBay, which is used as an online banking and global clearing house.

The global clearing house, which Van describes as the company's "most important facet," will allow Bartercard customers to trade internationally by attributing a local trade value to consumer goods, similar to the stock exchange.