The Evolution of Smart Card Technology

EMV and ISO Standards

Once again, it is necessary to reiterate the importance of conformity when talking in global terms.  Whether you are shopping in Switzerland, the Maldives or even in Ghana, you would need for your new smart card to be read by the hardware installed in the merchant site.  For the ease of this process it has become necessary for standards to be enforced with manufacturers of these cards across the world.

Even though discussions started already in 1993 and the first EMV™ standards were set by 1994, the EMVCo was formed in 1999 by Europay International, MasterCard International and Visa International.  It was formed to manage, maintain and enhance the EMV™ Integrated Circuit Card Specifications for all payment systems around the world. The acronym, oddly enough, has been kept as EMV, despite the fact that Europay International is now absorbed by MasterCard International.  MasterCard International and Visa International each own 50% in EMVCo rather than the previous three-way split.

The purpose of this group was to create standards for the manufacture of smart cards in payments businesses around the world.  These standards are base specifically on ISO 7816, which is the world standard for contact smart cards.  This was to maintain full interoperability of payments smart cards from one country to the next. Another big requirement in setting standards was to reduce online authorization by using the on-board data.  It also has to allow for offline cardholder verification at the Point of Sale (POS) terminal.  This would then, in turn, significantly reduce fraud.  In order to set these standards, EMV had to focus on the cards, the terminals or readers and also the applications to utilize the cards and/or terminals.

Shakers and Movers

As mentioned previously, there are significant applications of the smart card already in existence across a multiple of industries.  The list given here serves only to explain the ability of various types of smart cards.  The list is given by industry with at least one example of its application.

• Medical Applications: Germany has deployed millions of smart cards for the use in public health services.  Due to its offline functionality, it is even being considered and developed locally for the administration of anti-retroviral drugs, mostly for rural areas.


• National Identification and Voting: The rese of the world could easily follow the European leader, Sweden, in this initiative.  Sweden uses smart card, or rather, Electronic Identification cards (EID) to ensure stronger user identification.  It uses encryption to keep communications confidential whilst still ensuring non-repudiation.


• Entertainment: If you are using a digital satellite service in your home or any similar such service, you are using smart card for your broadcasting needs.  The information could be changed to, for instance, allow you to view the live broadcast of your favorite musician.


• Telecommunications: Cellular phones use smart cards in the form of Subscriber Information Module (SIM) cards.  But besides this, South Africa also boasts a call card system that uses preloaded call amounts that allow users access to a number of public telephones without the fuss of finding correct change or, even worse, losing the physical money into the older coin operated models.


• Travel & Transport: The smart card is being used in an array of ways for the convenience of traveling with public transport in Europe.  It allows for the user’s travel trends to be followed, which will allow for new products or travel packages to be marketed.  It also allows, at certain airports, for an airline to track where a specific commuter is when he/she has failed to board a flight.


• Banking:  Entire countries in Europe have the system in place already.  The United States only have a few small trial installations.