What Is A Smart Card?

Date First Published: 10th November 2023

Topic: Computer Systems

Subtopic: Computer Hardware

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty: Medium

Difficulty Level: 4/10

CONTENTS

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Biometric Access Control

Learn about what a smart card is in this article.

A smart card is a physical card with a microprocessor or memory chip used to authenticate a user and provide access to systems and services. The smart card uses a serial interface and receives its power from external sources, like a card reader. They can connect to a card reader by direct physical contact or using a short-range wireless connectivity standard, like NFC.

Uses Of Smart Cards

Some uses of smart cards include:

Payment cards, including debit cards and credit cards issued by banks and credit card companies, used for financial transactions.
Access control cards, which enable schools and organisations to control access to physical locations.
SIM cards, which contain a computer chip which stores identifying information about a mobile device owner, including the phone number and the mobile carrier.
Smart health cards, used to help medical facilities securely store medical records.

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Smart Cards

The advantages of smart cards are:

They are useful for storing valuable data. Once information is stored on a smart card, it cannot be easily erased or modified.
Compared to magnetic stripe cards, they are more secure because they contain microprocessors that can directly process data without remote connections and are safe against electronic interference and magnetic fields.

The disadvantages of smart cards are:

There can be compatibility issues. Not all smart card readers are compatible with all types of smart cards. For example, some smart card readers use proprietary software that is incompatible with other readers.
Although they have security procedures in place, they can be vulnerable to attacks that try to recover information from the chip.