Smart cards are typically credit card sized,plastic credentials containing a microprocessor chip that serves the dualfunctions of communication and extensivedata storage. Although it is packaged in the form of a card, a smart card operates much like a personal computer in that it can storedata, manipulate data, and perform functions like mathematical equations.
Smart cards normally contain application fields/sectors secured by special, application-specificsecurity keys (much like keys that unlock various rooms in a building). These sectorscan contain information for various applications – such as access control, cashless vending, mass transit, and paymentsystems – securely separated from one other by security keys.
Smart cards can come in two forms: contact and contactless.
Contact smart cards operate much like magnetic stripe cards (credit cards, etc.), requiring insertion into or direct contact with a reader.Contactless cards are read when presented near or in “proximity” to a reader.
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