Money!

[Carlobrand]

I'll be danged if I can figure the right forum for this. As it deals in part with applications of technology toward currency, I figure this will do.

So, you've mustered out your scout, got lucky on your rolls and came away with a scout ship and Cr110,000, among other things. Now you're getting ready to fly off to ...

Wait. Cr110,000 in cash? In a bank account? Is there a Bank of Regina on Ruie or Beck's World, and how do they know what you've deposited or withdrawn? How do you transport that much around without getting robbed of it? And what if you're a successful merchant, buying and selling hundreds of thousands of credits in cargo with each trip?

In the days before instantaneous communications, you'd use a letter of credit or a bank draft or similar instrument, basically instructing the receiving bank to extend you that amount on the assurance that the issuing bank would reimburse them from your accounts. Of course, if you couldn't find a bank that extended that service, you basically had a piece of paper and no cash.

So how do we do it with advanced tech but week-plus delays between locations? Well, one advantage is that you're as slow as the communications: Open an account on Regina, the information goes out on outbound flights to neighboring worlds, and from there to other neighboring worlds. Your account information precedes you, or at worst accompanies you to the banks of the neighboring worlds (or at least to the worlds' databases). The process would be limited to travellers: you'd open an account at one of the select Imperial-approved banks that maintained branches at significant starports and that agreed to use certain common protocols to facilitate such a system.

Of course, that only works consistently in the starports; some worlds have too low a population - too little infrastructure - or too low a tech level to connect with that kind of database. Some worlds would have restrictive or protective laws requiring you to buy local specie or open a local account, and so forth.

Another thought is a credit-card-like thing, more like a gift card: the bank loads your account information into that, you take it with you, present it at a branch in the starport where you land to establish your account there. Has your picture and basic identification info - like maybe a DNA pattern the bank can use to establish that the bearer is in fact you. Usable independently for small transactions - food, hotel charges and such - but you'd have to establish your local account before you could make larger transactions, 'cause the seller's gonna want to verify a few things. Lose it, a bit inconvenient - you can request a reissue from the last bank that you were at, but if that was on another world then it could be a couple or three weeks while the message goes out, they wait for any lingering charges to register and the new card comes in.

Or, combine the two: the bulk of your fortune stays in the bank databases, you carry around a bank card loaded up with a hundred to a grand or so to use as cash wherever you go. However, if you lose the card, you're out of luck.

 

[Shonner]

Bring money with. Also, 6 - 8 weeks for a check to clear.

 

[Spinward Scout]

Imperial Express card. Don't leave Regina without it.

I think we covered this a while back. If I remember right, someone suggested some kind of bank voucher that you take from world to world.

 

[rancke]

Wait. Cr110,000 in cash? In a bank account? Is there a Bank of Regina on Ruie or Beck's World, and how do they know what you've deposited or withdrawn?

Bank draft. Or Smart Card.

And what if you're a successful merchant, buying and selling hundreds of thousands of credits in cargo with each trip?

Reputation: Trustworthy and we know where he lives (Free Traders bring cash).


Hans

 

[Sir Brad]

JTAS had an piece on what sounds a hell of a lot like what we call today a Debit Smart Card loaded with Cash and what we today call Bio-Metric Data. they where issued by the TAS, Major Finical Institutions and for use by Military Personal and Government Employes the Imperim it's self.

then their are still Bank Drafts, Barer Bonds and Cash or Commodities

 

[CosmicGamer]

From my own TU doc.
IMTU - IMTU - IMTU - IMTU
The Imperium protects and encourages trade between systems. This includes providing a financial system for conducting trade easily and quickly.

There are multiple ways of conducting monetary transactions within the Imperial financial system as well as the numerous ways that worlds conduct business and ways things are handled outside of the Imperium.

Imperial Star Ports of a certain class or higher and all Scout and Navy bases have a branch of the Imperial Bank that will perform most transactions. Many space ports on Imperial worlds will have a branch of the Imperial Bank.

Local financial systems can take just about any form but most Imperial worlds will support the Imperial financial system to some degree. Sometimes it is just a bank in the capital that will exchange CRImps and local currency. Sometimes banks and businesses support all the common forms of Imperial cash and credit.

The smart card or credit stick.
There are some devices that require obtaining autherization for each transaction (like a modern credit card or on line banking). There are other devices that are just a means of identifying the apropriet acount from which funds will be provided (like old credit cards and checks). There are also smart devices loaded with a set amount and all transactions and the current balance are maintained on the device. This last group of smart devices are detailed here.

Devices can have numerous varieties.
A device could be loaded with actual funds (bought like a visa prepaid card).
A device could be loaded with a set amount of authorized credit.

Security
For security, some devices are only capable of a limited number of transaction. For security, devices usually have an experation. For security, some devices not only electronicly track transactions, but are physicaly marked or punched to indicate transactions. For security, some smart cards and credit sticks only have the ability to subtract funds and no amount of software hacking can add funds since the hardware is incapable of doing so.

While some devices are extremely reliable, nothing is tamper proof. Obviously, doing so is a crime.

Some versions of these devices are only provided by Imperial banks. Other devices can be loaded/created by certain high level authorized representatives, like TAS or trusted local financial institutions. There are some devices which can be acquired from a local merchant or even a ships Steward for paying crew.

Some cards are bearer versions - anyone possessing the card can use it. Most cards have some form of security from a simple pin to biometric authentication.

Usage
Even on a low tech world, some businesses may have a machine of the appropriate TL for conducting business using these cards. However it's more common for a traveler to use the most secure version of a smart card or credit stick and stop at the Imperial bank at the star port to obtain a version of the local financial medium.

Some cards are for Imperial bank use only but held by the account holder or a representative or even sent via courier. Businesses can't take them, they can only be used at another Imperial bank. This is usually for the transfer of large values when the normal means for financial institutions to convey information is not conducive to expedient transactions.

Once funds or credit is on a device, it's like cash in your hands. Some people do forgo using these devices and opt to use Imperial credits. If you lose the device recovery options can vary, based on the type of device, from as simple as requesting a new one, to long delays as the different bank branches all synchronize transaction logs and account information, to "sorry, not my problem".

Merchants, crew, and other seasoned travelers usually don't put all their eggs in one basket. They tend to have multiple credit devices loaded with varying amounts.

It's a good idea for a merchant to know where they are going and to plan for their financial needs before they depart.

Pretty much all the ways we are doing things now are still possible in the future.
/IMTU

 

[HG_B]

Remember after the 1st Death Star was destroyed and Han Solo was loading all those boxes of reward payment onto the Falcon? Precious metal currency for the little guys like Free Traders and the like. That's why these types are usually 'loaded for bear' and why Star Ports allow personally carried weaponry.

 

[Xerxeskingofking]

How do you transport that much around without getting robbed of it?

it's mentioned in the Mongoose traveller books that the Imperium issues currency in both KCr and MCr denominations as well as normal values (i.e. they issue a 10Kcr coin, and a 1Mcr note, etc), specifically to allow traders so that carry large amounts of currency easily.

It's perfectly possible that your scout with 110 Kcr could hold that in a small number of notes, and can keep them locked in a normal sized safe on his Scout ship, same as most modern day shopkeepers keep their daily earnings in a safe in the back of their store.


Megacorps and such can basically trade on the strength of their reputation if they need money in a location they don't have an existing account ("we're Ling Standard Products, of course we will be able to repay the 10 Mcr needed to cover the repairs to the ship."), and rely on the X-boat network to synchronise their accounts infomation across the imperium.

plus, "110Kcr" does not need to be 110,000 Cr in coins and note. it could easily be trade goods with a market value of that much. it could even be a credit card with a fixed value, given on discharge ("this cred sitck is pre-loaded with 110,000 credits, drawn against, and backed by, the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service . the IISS will honour any authenticated demands up to the value stated above.")