We all know of the gold standard, but have you heard of the cheese standard? Credito Emiliano bank, in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy, has been accepting giant wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese as collateral for small-business loans since 1953.

The unusual banking method is now the subject of a new Harvard Business School case study titled "Credem: Banking in Cheese". It notes that not only does the bank help local dairy farmers keep their businesses afloat, the bank actually ages the cheese for farmers, which cuts down on their storage costs, reports Forbes.

Read more

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/