So in the Rule book I was not able to find out what form Credits take. If it is written I apologize ahead of time for wasting your time with this post.

In my current adventure that I am GMing, what form Credits take is going to play a big part.

Are all Credits stored on Datapads, linked via Bank Accounts or just on the Datapad by itself off the HoloNet or are Credits in chip or paper form like money today?

Or is it a mix of both?
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​The PCs in my game most certainly don't have bank accounts or anything legitimate like that. So how would they be carrying there money? On data pads or backpacks etc?

Currently the PCs own between them around 11k credits. Thanks in advance.

There are certainly physical credits, but they're usually for smaller denominations (including fractional credits).

Large illegal transactions are frequently conducted entirely in these chips and, like cash in real life, are bulky and difficult to carry.

Large legal transactions (or even quasi-legal) are frequently conducted electronically.

In short, they're very similar to the current system we have in place in real life. Cash is king, but it's bulky, difficult to move and, in large quantities, raises eyebrows. There are also pre-paid cards which access accounts as well as electronic transactions between financial institutions.

Have a gander:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Credit

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Galactic_Credit_Standard

Both, for reasons nefarious and practical.

Both ways exist.

I like to imagine physical credits as something more akin to a small bar rather than a coin, something like this:

https://www.3dprintwise.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/3d-printed-accessory.jpg

It's a very big galaxy - no reason that you couldn't find all kinds of currently in circulation. Paper notes, electronic notes, electronic transfers, and shiny rocks and beads. Then you add in different regions that don't take galactic standard, outdated currency ("What do you mean that we just got paid in Old Republic credits?!? That stuff is worth about .25 credits to a collector, at best!!!"), transactions that some parties might want to keep off the books and different exchange rates and you've got a small sampling of what the state of currency in the galaxy is.

In short, the currency is as wide and varied and complex (or simple) as you want it to be.

There might also be some confusion between "chip" and " chit ".

In the entirety of the galaxy freelance transactions between independent beings, both criminal and completely legal, would invariably require some level of accepted transferable value system. The Outer Rim outpost might not have a holo link for a Alderaanian savings and loan to actually operate, so there would need to be some way to pay for goods and services that's both accepted, and reasonably portable.

If you're an Ewok, currency is beads and shiny rocks.

Make it whatever you want it to be.

It's an earthy galaxy from the dim and distant past, not a sterile futuristic one. I quite like folding notes, myself.

In the end of ANH, Han Solo is loading his reward (which he is going to use to pay off his debt to Jabba) in crates. So some kind of physical version of credits are in the movies (though not actually shown).

http://i.stack.imgur.com/rp7D2m.jpg

I also want to say Luke is handling something physical when he sells the Landspeeder, but not sure if I am remembering correctly.

I always assume the currency is bottle caps. But maybe I was just playing way too much Fallout 2 right before I started reading the rule books...

In the entirety of the galaxy freelance transactions between independent beings, both criminal and completely legal, would invariably require some level of accepted transferable value system. The Outer Rim outpost might not have a holo link for a Alderaanian savings and loan to actually operate, so there would need to be some way to pay for goods and services that's both accepted, and reasonably portable.

Did the Empire get their loan for the Death Star via Alderaanian Savings and Loan? Tarkin's a wily one, that's one hell of a way to avoid paying back the loan!!

Seriously though, I agree with a lot that is said here, especially make it as easy or complicated as you like. If you have a party based around a business, you can give them currency issues as a hook to adventure, and so on...

We have seen in canon that coinage is certainly used. Ep IV. And not in small values, either. Luke gets several thousand in a handful of (presumably Hutt) coins.

And we know that Republic Dataries are electronic and have coins, thanks to Eps 1-3. The Empire is unlikely to change that.

I use both. I think in more out of the way places, the Rebellion, and transactions that don't want to be tracked use physical currency. Banks can transfer hard credits to a credchip/stick (for a small fee, of course). What's funny is that in previous SWRPG's, I almost always used credit chips, but I haven't used them at all with EotE. No one's really noticed, or comented about it.

We hand-wave it unless there's a specific plot hoot attached to it and if there is, then it takes the form of whatever the plot dictates. There's Star Wars canon, but remember the game you're playing is yours. You can make your own canon. In fact, you are making your own canon every session. Do what's fun for your group.

To more fully answer your question gmonnie, it sounds to me like what would be most interesting for your group is to have it all be in physical form. They have no bank accounts, and about 11K credits. I could see making them sweat having to carry around that kind of "cash," always being nervous about being robbed since they don't have any legitimate means of protecting it.

Did the Empire get their loan for the Death Star via Alderaanian Savings and Loan? Tarkin's a wily one, that's one hell of a way to avoid paying back the loan!!

I don't know, but i'm pretty sure Starkiller is funded via kickstarter...

btw, in an old WEG book it explain there are electronic bank accounts, and transfers, etc, but this is only used by legal transaction in planets of medium/high civilization level. Also, some planet still use hard coinage even if in computer or space age.

Hard coins are translucent chip with holographic emperor layout on one side and coin value on the other side

plus, some planet use proprietary coinage system, barter, shiny bead and rocks, etc.

so yes, it's a large galaxy and every planet could have a proper system. However, imperial coin are both physical and electronic

Pardon the heresy, but I usually use Star Trek: DS9 as a guidepost when it comes to money in the Star Wars RPG universe: basically, all of the above, location-dependent. Some people bought with currency; others with gold-pressed latinum; others in credits; others in barter/exchange. It was a dynamic and confusing economy, and probably very reflective of the kinds of cultural/economic clashes you see in frontier locations.

Lando and Zeb gambling from the "Idiot's Array" episode of Star Wars: Rebels . Note the pot at the very beginning