LCARS:Money

Money is a complex issue — the things that influence its movements, the way it came about, the value that is placed behind these bits of paper, metal, and data. This is why it's understandable that a radical concept such as a society moving beyond a need for it would give the writers of star trek such difficulty over about a half a century of the franchise. As such, the article about money in memory alpha is confusing and contradictory, thus making it for all practical purpose useless for us in this sim. We're going to simplify down to the following concepts, and anything in star trek's canon that contradicts what is outlined below is not canon for purposes of our sim.

1. The Federation is a moneyless society. Between replicators and an abundance of goods needed for day to day life, no one has any need for it. Resources that are perhaps a little more scarce (a musician's time to perform for an audience, a chef preparing a meal, etc) will have factors other than money dictate their distribution; factors ranging from (but not limited to) any one to a mix of the following: first come first serve, lottery, barter, best qualified, and the sheer whims of the person who made it or provides the service.
2. The Federation credit exists only to allow Federation citizens to interact with non Federation cultures. Any citizen can acquire an amount of this currency via request; the amount variable based upon a number of factors such as the terms with which the Federation get along with the culture, the amount needed to have a visit to the society on par with the Federation standard of living, and the time expected to be spent there. Members of Starfleet are automatically issued an amount upon shore leave at not Federation locations based upon the local economy and expected duration of the leave. It is worth noting that the Ferengi do not recognize the Federation credit as currency, and as such it has no value to a Ferengi.