When dealing with smart cards, you might be feeling quite the opposite! Don't worry - ID Wholesaler is here to help!
Both contact and contactless smart cards work with a chip that is embedded into the card that stores data. This type of card is popular in many areas and can be used in a wide variety of applications including:
- network security
- vending
- meal plans
- loyalty
- electronic cash
- government IDs
- campus IDs
- Ecommerce
- health cards
- and many more!
The difference between contact and contactless smart cards are just as the names imply. Contact smart cards must be inserted into a reader to read and to store information in the chip. In contrast, contactless smart cards do not have to be inserted into a card acceptor device.
Instead, contactless smart cards contain an embedded antenna for reading and writing information contained in the chip's memory. They need only be passed within range of a radio frequency acceptor to read and store information in the chip.
Contactless smart cards are used in many of the same applications as contact smart cards, especially where the added convenience and speed of not having to insert the card into a reader is desirable. There is a growing acceptance of this type of card for both physical and logical access control applications. Student identification, electronic passport, vending, parking, and tolls are common applications for contactless cards.
What’s the difference between smart cards and proximity cards?
In comparison, proximity cards or door access cards, communicate through an antenna similar to contactless smart cards except that they are read-only devices that generally have a greater range of operation. Smaller amounts of information can be read with proximity cards, such as an identification code that is usually verified by a remote computer. With proximity cards, it is not possible to write information back to the card.
Proximity cards continue to grow in popularity because of the convenience they offer in security, identification, and access control applications, especially door access where fast, hands-free operation is preferred.