> each of these companies could simply pursue their own independent stored-value liability programs. But wouldn't an alliance be better? Obviously it woudln't.

> each of these companies could simply pursue their own independent stored-value liability programs. But wouldn't an alliance be better? Obviously it woudln't. He even provides the evidence why not. People top up their starbucks because they need coffee every day - it's basically a subscription , but they dont buy the same stuff at walmart every day - and the cost levels are widely different. Something similar happens to virtual credits for different games - Experts will tell you that it is better to have a separate economy for each game rather than one unified economy - and you should not even allow players to pay each other. Same reason why stock photo sites want you to buy credits for each one of them, or why each newspaper wants a separate subscription. The "Breakage" breaks up when the economies are unified.