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A credit chip
Credit chips, also known as credit sticks, were credits in a form of a small, flat chip or card issued by the planetary government which had values ranging from one to over a billion with a limit set by the issuing governmental authority. Currency was transferred to and from the chip by drawing upon account information from a central bank. These were issued on most Core and Colony worlds. They were very popular even though some planetary governments outside of the Core Worlds still relied upon hard currency. Because of the popularity and widespread use, few galactic citizens ever saw actual cash as their income was directly deposited into their accounts. The Republic, Empire, and Corporate Sector Authority relied heavily on electronic currency and credit chips.
Credit chip technology was created, and later perfected, centuries before 32 BBY. The technology was created as a means of allowing quick and easy access to funds and to protect users from theft.
Credit chips had security codeouts and credit algorithm memory stripes integrated into their circuitry. Modifying a credit chip was possible though extremely difficult. And though it could be altered to access a different account than it was coded for, this was practically impossible. Because of common security countermeasures, a failed attempt to modify the chip activated self-destruct programming, destroying the chip.
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