Mumbai University > Information Technology > Sem 7 > e-commerce and e-business

Marks: 10M

Year: May 2016

Smart card:

1. Smart cards, also called stored value cards, use magnetic stripe technology or integrated circuit chips to store customer-specific information, including electronic money.
2. The cards can be used to purchase goods or services, store information, control access to accounts, and perform many other functions. Smart cards offer clear benefits to both merchants and consumers. They reduce cash-handling expenses and losses caused by fraud, expedite customer transactions at the checkout counter, and enhance consumer convenience and safety.
3. In addition, many state and federal governments are considering stored value cards as an efficient option for dispersing governments entitlements. Other private sector institutions market stored value products to transit riders, university students, telephone customers, vending customers, and retail customers. One successful use of stored value cards is by New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The NITA is the largest transportation agency in the United States and, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, opcrates the New York City subway and public bus system, the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North commuter rail systems, and nine tolled intrastate bridges and tunnels. These facilities serve four million customers each workday.
4. the NITA began the operation of an automated fare-collection system based on a plastic card with a magnetic snipe. The MetroCard is either swiped through a card reader at subway stations or dipped into a farebox on buses where the fare is decremented.The full complement of 467 subway stations is expected to be operational by mid-1997. By 1999, the MTA anticipates more than 1.2 billion electronic fare collection transactions a year on subway and bus lines. The management challenges created by smart card payment systems are formidable. Institutions such as the NITA have made a considerable investment in the stored value card processing network, and to get a good return on investment must identify new and innovative ways to achieve additional operating efficiencies and value. For example, many commuters in the New York area use two or three different mass transit systems to get to and from work. Each of these systems bears the expense of maintaining its own proprietary network.

5. procedure of Payment by Smart card.

   A smart card contains more information than a magnetic stripe card and it can be programmed for different applications. Some cards can contain programming and data to support multiple applications and some can be updated to add new applications after they are issued. Smart cards can be designed to be inserted into a slot and read by a special reader or to be read at a distance, such as at a toll booth. Cards can be disposable (as at a trade-show) or reloadable (for most applications).An industry standard interface between programming and PC hardware in a smart card has been defined by the PC/SC Working Group, representing Microsoft, IBM, Bull, Schlumberger, and other interested companies. Another standard is called OpenCard. There are two leading smart card operating systems: JavaCard and MULTOS.