 Credit cards have been around for almost 40 years in one form or another, and for all of these years it's always been basically the same design: a piece of plastic with raised numbers on the front. There have been a couple of new things added on since the 1970's such as a magnetic stripe on the back that holds the same number that's on the front, a hologram embossed on the front of the card to discourage counterfeiting, and a small picture of yourself on the front for help with identifying you. This evolution is continuing, bringing credit cards and even other types of cards to the next level: Smart Cards. |
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Smart Cards look very similar to regular credit cards, with one little difference. See if you can spot the difference between these two cards on your left. The 2nd card has a small weird-looking metal stamp on it, and that's what makes a Smart Card smart. That small metal stamp is actually a small computer chip that can store information. It can hold hundreds of times more information than the simple magnetic stripe that's on the back of a typical credit card. The chip on a smart card is more durable too, and works with many different electronic devices like cell phones, PDAs and your own computer!  The kinds of information that smart cards can store are almost limitless: banking information, passwords, dollar amounts, health information, etc. Certain types of smart cards can also act like mini-computers, processing information and managing it. Some smart cards can even work by radio waves, just by being next to a receiver, allowing it to energize and communicate. How does it work? The chip (integrated circuit) can be one of five types: Electronic Purse Cards, Memory Cards and Security Cards are similar, they primarily store information that is retrieved either by a card reader or by radio waves. The Processor and Java Cards are basically a tiny simple computer that can run a program or perform a complex task. How complex the chip on the card is determines how difficult a task it can do. The chip receives information in the form of electricity. The information is then stored as electronic ones and zeros on the chip, and they'll stay in place until they are changed by another surge of electricity. When the power hits the chips that perform tasks, they go into their little computer mode and start crunching out their program. The nice thing about Smart Cards is that, since the chip on them can be whatever you need it to be, the cards are constantly evolving and changing. Smart Cards are very popular in Europe and it is just a few years from now until they'll be found almost everywhere in the U.S. |
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Did You Know? Smart Card technology is starting to take on many different forms. You can even get one inside a ring you wear on your finger! |
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