Let's start with a definition: a smart card is a tiny portable computer with no display or keyboard that is typically the size of a credit card. It has a CPU, memory, and software. The round metal contact is required to connect to the chip below and electrically activate the card. It works with either a contact or contactless card reader (POS for payments, at the ATM, or even on your mobile phone). Why? The chip is activated by the 3V or 1.8 volts supplied by the card reader (or mobile phone). Smart cards, which come in the form of credit cards and SIM cards, are the most widely used type of IT processing power on the globe. Between 30 and 50 billion smart cards are in use now, according to estimates. When used in conjunction with a smart card reader, the smart card has a microprocessor or memory chip that has enough processing capacity to do a variety of tasks. In the last three decades, these tools, more than any other technology, have quietly taken us all into a virtual world.

Dency Varghese

219 resources

0

2

4

Like