The Next Idea Match people who need a service with people willing to provide a service. Use time as the currency. That’s the concept behind a time bank. “A time bank is a community skill exchange," said Kim Hodge , executive director of the Michigan Alliance of TimeBanks . "It’s a way of saying we all have something to offer – we all have skills and assets and we all have needs, and we could be sharing them with each other. So it’s kind of a pay-it-forward, or circle-of-giving program.”