Contactless Smart Card Technology

Contactless smart card technology is used in applications that need to provide quick and accurate verification, for example access control.

Contact smart card technology provides similar capabilities but does not have the RF interface that allows contactless smart cards to be conveniently read at a short distance from the reading mechanism.

The smart card technology embedded in a Tensor access control or time attendance system provides the user with an extraordinarily fast read time, typically in under ¼ second. In addition, the read range of the RF readers used to scan the cards can reach 6 inches, even if it is covered in oil or grease.

The contactless device includes a smart card secure microcontroller and internal memory, and has the unique ability to securely manage, store and provide access to data on the card, perform complex functions (for example, encryption or other security functions) and interact intelligently via RF with a contactless reader.

Applications using contactless smart cards support many security features that ensure the integrity, confidentiality and privacy of information stored or transmitted.

Mutual Authentication — for applications requiring secure card access, the contactless smart card-based device can verify that the reader is authentic and can prove its own authenticity to the reader before starting a secure transaction.

Strong Contactless Device Security — contactless smart card technology is extremely difficult to duplicate or forge and has built-in tamper-resistance. Smart card chips include a variety of hardware and software capabilities that detect and react to tampering attempts and help counter possible attacks.

The on-chip intelligence uniquely enables systems that use contactless smart card technology to comply with strong privacy and security guidelines, as well as deliver the speed and convenience of contactless communication.