Smart card

Finnish national identity card

A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card), is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip.[1] Many smart cards include a pattern of metal contacts to electrically connect to the internal chip. Others are contactless, and some are both. Smart cards can provide personal identification, authentication, data storage, and application processing.[2] Applications include identification, financial, public transit, computer security, schools, and healthcare. Smart cards may provide strong security authentication for single sign-on (SSO) within organizations. Numerous nations have deployed smart cards throughout their populations.

The universal integrated circuit card (UICC) for mobile phones, installed as pluggable SIM card or embedded eSIM, is also a type of smart card. As of 2015, 10.5 billion smart card IC chips are manufactured annually, including 5.44 billion SIM card IC chips.[3]

  1. ^ "ISO/IEC 7816-2:2007 – Assignment of contacts C4 and C8". iso.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  2. ^ Multi-application Smart Cards. Cambridge University Press.
  3. ^ Tait, Don (25 August 2016). "Smart card IC shipments to reach 12.8 billion units in 2020". IHS Technology. IHS Markit. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.