Smart Card

Smart card, invented by Michel Ugon in 1977, is a small card embedded with circuits which helps in processing of data. Smart cards make use of the smart card technology with which data is written and read from them. A smart card resembles a credit card in its shape and size, but while a credit card has a magnetic strip, smart cards use microprocessor chips which are available in 8, 16 and 32 bit architecture. Smart cards can store data anywhere between 200 bytes to 20,000 bytes, which is a good enough memory to store certain personal details of the user. Smart cards are made of Polyvinyl chloride or Acrylonitrile Butadienene Styrene (ABS) plastic.

Smart Card Writer
A smart card writer is a device that can interface with a smart card so that information can be put on it. The smart card writer has the capability of overwriting, reformatting and altering existing data. These devices are secure so that only authorized personnel can use them. Now as we know what a smart card writer is, let us know about a smart card reader.

Smart Card Reader
Smart cards are placed in a device to retrieve the information. This device communicates with the smart card either physically or through Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and does the task of fetching data. This device is known as smart card reader. The smart card reader software ensures privacy and security of the smart cards so that confidential information remains secure. There are different brands in the market who offer you various types of smart card readers.

Smart Card Alliance
The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart card technology. The Smart Card Alliance can be thought of as a spokesperson for smart card technology and it organizes various conventions, seminars etc. to discuss the impact of smart cards in different countries of the world, especially America and Latin America. It is an alliance which has over 170 members worldwide.
(Courtesy : Smart Card Alliance)

Ozarks Technical Committee College (OTC) Smart Card
OTC smart cards are a result of the partnership between Ozarks Technical Committee college and Higher One, a financial services company. These smart cards help students in faster delivery of funds. It also offers students the 'easy refunds' mode of receiving refunds as the students can get the refund on the same day as OTC releases it.

Types of Smart Cards
Smart cards are classified as contact cards, contactless smart cards, combi cards, hybrid cards and proximity cards. These different types of smart cards are used in network security, vending, electronic cash, e-commerce, student identification etc. 9 line medevac smart card is useful as it helps in emergency purposes. Smart phone card is popular for making international calls as these are cost-effective. These are just some of the benefits of smart cards. Toshiba, the Japanese company manufactures one of the bestselling smart cards in the market known as smartmedia card.

The advantages of smart cards technology over debit and credit cards are numerous. Smart cards are better protected than credit/debit cards as the magnetic stripe on the credit/debit cards can be easily duplicated. Also, when buying online, many of us are skeptical about the safety standards followed by the website. Whenever websites ask us for our credit card numbers and passwords, we are often unsure whether the sites are encrypted or not. A Smart card on the other hand is much more secure as it requires a special reader to access data. Smart cards help in making internet transactions lot more secure, if not completely fool-proof. This is just one of the numerous advantages smart cards have over standard debit/credit cards.

There are a lot of people who disapprove using smart cards as they say that technology can never be 100% secure and no matter how hard one may try, there will still be a loophole through which smart cards can be misused. But then, we can't succumb to not using a technology because some people out there are using or rather misusing it for personal gains. Like every other thing, smart cards too have their pros and cons, but for a technology to survive the pros should always outweigh the cons and that luckily is the case with smart cards. A lot of innovation has taken place in smart card technology over the years, and in near future smart cards are expected to play a larger role in our day-to-day lives.