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Tecnología de Tarjetas Inteligentes |
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An Introduction to the Smart Cards Technology |
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Smart cards are plastic cards similar to credit cards, which have the following main differentials:
· Higher data storage capacity than conventional magnetic strip cards.
· Contactless capabilities that allow data encoding and/or data retrieval without physical contact.
· Data processing capabilities that allow the card to add, delete or update data stored.
Physical characteristics:
Physically they look like a credit or debit card in terms of size and shape. Smart cards have an electronic chip that can only store data to be retrieved by a smart card reader, or can have a microprocessor as well, which allows the card to add, delete or update data stored. |
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Supported Technologies
There are different technologies used to produce smart cards in terms of how the data will be stored and how the data will be retrieved.
· Read only Contact smart cards that have an internal chip, which works as an internal memory.
· Read only Contactless smart cards that have: -An internal chip, which works as an internal memory, -An internal antenna that transmits data from the card to the reader without physical contact.
· Microchip Contact smart cards that have an internal chip with a microprocessor, which allows the card to store and process data.
· Microchip Contactless smart cards that have an internal chip with a microprocessor and an internal antenna, which allows the card to store and process data and to transmit data between the card and the reader/writer unit without physical contact. |
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· Microchip Contact smart cards that have an internal chip with a microprocessor, which allows the card to store and process data.
· Microchip Contactless smart cards that have an internal chip with a microprocessor and an internal antenna, which allows the card to store and process data and to transmit data between the card and the reader/writer unit without physical contact. |
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Applications
The embedded technology features presented in the smart cards bring them a high security level concerning information security and fraud protection. All those characteristics make smart cards the ideal solution for applications that require strong security protection and authentication.
· Personal Identification: smart cards can store biometrics data such as cardholder fingerprint and other personal data.
· Medical and patient data: smart cards can store patient's medical history, treatment information, medicine prescriptions and much more.
· Gift cards
· Membership cards
· Financial applications: credit and debit card that allows off-line transactions.
Actually the smart card can replace the traditional magnetic strip card for most of the applications where magnetic strip cards are used today. |
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· Gift cards
· Membership cards
· Financial applications: credit and debit card that allows off-line transactions.
Actually the smart card can replace the traditional magnetic strip card for most of the applications where magnetic strip cards are used today. |
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