Smart Cards: Are They Really Smart?

The moment you hear "Smart Card", you start imagining a rectangular plastic card which you must using in you r day-to-day in some or the other sphere. However, it can be in different forms like tokens, chips in GSM mobile phones, credit cards etc.

The word "Smart" has been aptly coined for Smart cards since these can conduct business & financial transaction in a flexible and secure fashion without human contact or interaction. These cards entail safety applications like tamper resistance, current etc.

Do you know when Smart Card first came into existence? Its history dates long back to 1970s. However, it has come a long way until now. These have an in-built circuit or processor, which is programmable and process information. It also has embedded security & protection system and processes information via a card-reading device.

Smart cards are used for a variety of purposes such as online cash payments, telephone calling, transportation etc., and can be recharged on a periodic basis for reuse. Owing to great convenience and mobility that these cards offer the users, they have become a very important part of our day-to-day lives. Also, these cards are quite safe & secure to use.

Smart cards are also commendable proof of identity since these allow you access to places & platforms with limited access rights. The information stays stored in these cards and is accessible any time.

Owing to the multiple advantages, smart cards have, hence more & more work is being done in this domain across the world. As a result, more & more Smart card projects are being outsourced to leading outsourcing destinations like India, where tasks such as designing, development & testing of Smart Card based solutions is carried out on diverse hardware & software platforms.

Good Indian outsourcing companies develop contact cards (which serve as communications channel between smart card and host), contactless cards (powered by the reader via RF induction technology), 2D Barcode, PKI Solutions, Handheld Terminals, POS Terminals etc.