Input Devices : Smart Cards

Smart cards are often called input devices. In fact they are actually simple storage devices. A smart card looks like a magnetic stripe card but it contains a small RAM chip. When the card is put into a machine data can be read from the card or written onto it. A smart card can store much more data than a magentic stripe card can. The most popular card in use at the moment can store up to 4Kb (about 4000 characters) of information but cards with capacities up to 1Mb (1,000,000 characters) are available.

Petrol companies and supermarkets use smart cards to store information about points that customers earn when they buy goods. Every time the customer buys something the number of points stored on the card is increased. The customer can then spend these points to buy goods. Many banks now issue debit cards that are smart cards as these are more secure than traditional magnetic stripe cards.

Some smart cards contain a small microprocessor as well as memory. These cards are practically a complete computer system on a card. They are used for applications such as decoding pictures from satellite television stations.

GCSE ICT Companion 04 - (C) P Meakin 2004