smart card

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smart card small device that resembles a credit card but contains an embedded microprocessor to store and process information. Magnetic-stripe cards, which store a very small amount of information (most typically used to identify the owner) and have no processing capability of their own, can be thought of as primitive smart cards. A true smart card contains 80 or more times as much memory, and the microprocessor allows information to be read and updated every time the card is used. Contact cards, which must be swiped through card readers, are less prone to misalignment and being misread but tend to wear out from the contact; contactless cards, which are read by holding the card in front of a low-powered laser, can be used in mobile applications, such as collecting tolls from cards as drivers pass through toll booths without stopping.

Developed in 1973 by the Frenchman Roland Marino, the smart card was not introduced commercially until 1981, when the French state telephone system adopted it as an integral part of its phonecard network. This led to widespread use in France and then Germany, where patients have health records stored on the cards. A large-scale pilot program involving 40,000 people and 1,000 retail merchants and using smart cards as stored value, or electronic purse, cards—in which the card contains a stored monetary value that is decremented with each purchase and incremented by loading additional value onto the card through automated teller machines (ATMs) or public telephones—was initiated in Swindon, England, in 1995. Smaller pilots were held in Canberra, Australia; in the Atlanta, Ga., metropolitan area in conjunction with the 1996 Summer Olympic Games; in New York City; and in Guelph, Ontario. All of these achieved only limited customer acceptance and were shut down by 1998. Another major problem is that these and other smart card ventures do not have a common technology; global acceptability will come only after international standards are adopted.

As memory capacity, computing power, and data encryption capabilities of the microprocessor increase, smart cards are envisioned as replacing such commonplace items as cash, airline and theater tickets, credit and debit cards, toll tokens, medical records, and keys. Suggested government use of a single smart card to replace driver's licenses, passports, social security and welfare documentation, and the like has caused a debate concerning the civil liberty implications of such uses of the smart card.

smart card A plastic card similar to a credit card but having memory and a microprocessor (or specialized logic) embedded in it.

Smart cards are defined by ISO 7816 Parts 1–6 and comprise a plastic card of size 85.6 #M 53.98mm with a standard pattern of electrical contacts on the surface. It may also incorporate a magnetic stripe. A smart card can carry large amounts of personal and other information, which can be updated by inserting in a suitable reader. Data encryption is routinely incorporated for security. Many credit cards are now incorporating smart card technology. However because of their ability to store personal financial data, health records, benefit entitlements, and criminal records there is considerable controversy surrounding their introduction in everyday affairs. Concerns about security add to the problem. The use of smart cards as personal ID cards is similarly a matter of political concern.

smart card A credit-card-sized piece of plastic which contains a small microprocessor and a small amount of data. Smart cards are used for a number of purposes: they can be used to hold ELECTRONIC TOKENS, they can contain personal details, or they can be employed as an AUTHENTICATION medium for validating a user's identify. They often have metal contacts on their surface so that they can be connected to an electronic device capable of reading their data.