A smart card is the same size as a credit card with a small gold square about the size of a human thumbnail on it. The gold square holds both a microprocessor and memory for the smart card. The microprocessor and memory allow smart cards to hold much more data than was ever possible with a credit card. But beyond the greater data storage, a smart card's microprocessor allows for alteration and access control of the data.
The data stored on a smart card can be altered in any of the following modes: read only, where data can only be read from the card; add only, where data can only be added to the card; modify or erase, where data can be modified or erased (for depleting money or credits); and no access, which is used for storing passwords with very strong encryption. The only way to retrieve these passwords would be from the computer program that was used to produce the smart card.
Today, smart cards are being widely used in Europe and are only beginning to enter into North America. Some current uses for smart cards are telephone cards for long distance calling; electronic money cards, used as a more secure replacement for credit cards; travel, where a smart card can be used for all travel tickets and passes; electronic access to computer systems; a security key for access to private facilities; and medical record storage to put someone's whole medical history on a single smart card.
Future possibilities for smart cards include an electronic wallet that puts credit, bank and debit cards plus a user's financial record on a single smart card, and an everything card that combines financial, medical and personal data. One of the main advantages that smart cards have over traditional credit cards is their strong encryption of the data. When smart cards used for banking happen to be stolen, because of encryption, it is not a problem and a new smart card can be issued within a day or two. It is because of this fraud protection that France was one of the first to widely use smart cards.
About 440 million smart cards are in use around the world, with 3.8 billion smart cards expected by 2001. The majority of smart cards are used in Europe, and they are just beginning to show up in North America. Credit card companies such as MasterCard and Visa are currently testing out smart cards in sample areas.
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