A Smart Card – What is it? Why is it so Popular?

Over the years, card access has begun to migrate from using cards that rely on magnetic stripes or proximity technology to using smart card technology. 

While magnetic striped cards and proximity cards are still found, the smart card format has been increasing in use.  This is especially true in Europe where smart cards have been in use much longer than in the United States (notably in the banking sector).

Now it is commonplace to see debit cards and credit cards that now have an embedded smart card for the ability for contactless purchases and ATM transactions. 

Smart cards are used in almost everyone’s daily life considering even the SIM card in your cellphone is one of the most common smart cards.

So What is a Smart Card? 

A smart card is a device that has an embedded integrated circuit; it can have an internal memory or be a memory chip alone. 

They can come in many different formats such a credit card, cellphone SIM card, key tags, and more. 

Some of the advantages of using smart cards with card access systems are their ability to be harder to duplicate by criminals and can be used across different types of card readers. 

Another benefit of smart cards is that they can be integrated with different technologies.  Companies can have them be used for more than just card access. 

As an example, an employee’s smart card can be used for their identification, access to their assigned areas in the card access system, and be used to log on to their computer through the company’s network. 

Universities can issue them to students for identification, access to dorm rooms and to make purchases in their cafeterias and bookstores.

If you’d like to know more about smart cards and the advantages they can offer you please feel free to contact us a connect@m3tcorporation.com

Dave Bishop

Account Manager