Developer's Den >> What are Smart Cards?

Smart cards Basics

A smart card - a type of chip card - is a plastic card embedded with a computer chip that stores and transacts data between users. The smart card is one of the latest additions to the world of information technology. Similar in size to today's plastic payment card, the smart card has a microprocessor or memory chip embedded in it. The chip stores electronic data and programs that are protected by advanced security features. When coupled with a reader, the smart card has the processing power to serve many different applications. The smart cards are secure as they make personal and business data available only to the appropriate users.

ISO 7816 defines the physical and logical features of the smart cards such as, shape, position of the contacts, their functions of the user interface and their file structure.Depending on the designated function of the smart cards, the on-board chip can consist of anything from simple EPROM memory (ie., in the case of a telephone card) to a full blown tamper proof computer on a chip, including an 8-bit microprocessor, RAM, ROM and EEPROM.