Third, communication with a smart card is based on the APDU format.Second, the reader communicates with the card, acting as the intermediary before sending the data to the card.First, users have to communicate with the reader.Unfortunately, the ISO group was unable to provide a standard for communicating with the readers so there is no “one size fits all” approach to smart card communication.Įach manufacturer provides a different protocol for communication with the reader. There are many types of readers available, such as serial, PCCard, and standard keyboard models. The reader provides a path for an application to send and receive commands from the card. So, unlike ordinary bank cards, smart cards can defend themselves against unauthorized users and uses in innovative security measures. If the messages exchanged do not match, no further processing takes place. When the smart card and the card reader come in contact, each identifies itself to the other by sending and receiving information. Cards can be plugged into a reader commonly referred to as a card terminal, or they can operate with radio frequencies (RF).
Smart cards are portable data cards that must communicate with another device to gain access to a display device or a network. In contrast, a ‘terminal’ is a self-contained processing device. The term ‘reader’ is generally used to describe a unit that interfaces with a PC for the majority of its processing requirements. There is a slight difference between the card reader and the terminal. Smart Card Readers are also known as card programmers (because they can write to a card), card terminals, card acceptance device (CAD), or an interface device (IFD).