Contactless smart card
contactless credential whose dimensions are credit-card size
A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit tickets, bank cards and passports.
There are two broad categories of contactless smart cards. Memory cards contain non-volatile memory storage components, and perhaps some specific security logic. Contactless smart cards contain read-only RFID called CSN (Card Serial Number) or UID, and a re-writeable smart card microchip that can be transcribed via radio waves.
Registration and transaction data from transit smart-card systems can support transit planning, including analysis of travel behaviour and fare policy; when transaction records are linked to registered personal information, they can also be used to analyse rider demographics.
Overview
A contactless smart card is characterized as follows:
Dimensions are normally credit card size. The ID-1 of ISO/IEC 7810 standard defines them as 85.60 × 53.98 × 0.76 mm (3.370 × 2.125 × 0.030 in).
Contains a security system with tamper-resistant properties (e.g. a secure cryptoprocessor, secure file system, human-readable features) and is capable of providing security services (e.g.
“Contactless smart card” enters the record as contactless credential whose dimensions are credit-card size. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Contactless, smart and card can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q13220021. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Contactless smart card” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.