A contact smart card looks like a credit card in size and shape, but inside it is completely different. The inside of a smart card usually contains an embedded microprocessor.

The microprocessor on the smart card is there for security. The host computer and card reader actually “talk” to the microprocessor. The microprocessor enforces access to the data on the card.

Contact smart cards can provide personal identification, authentication, data storage, and application processing.

Contactless smart card is a plastic card which is embedded with a microchip and antenna inside. These cards communicate via radio wave frequencies to a card reader that is usually within close proximity to the user and the card .RFID cards widely applied as access card, employee ID card, hotel key card, parking card and more.

Ariadcard offers contactless cards as durable alternatives to many of the traditional contact cards.

• There are three primary frequency ranges used for RFID transmissions – Low Frequency, High Frequency, and Ultra-High Frequency.
• Typically, low frequency RFID cards operate at 125 KHz, this frequency band provides a short read range of 10 cm, and has slower read speed than the higher frequencies.
• Low frequency (LF)  RFID  card applications include access control , animal tracking, car key-fob and more.
• High frequency (HF) RFID cards operate at 13.56 MHz with read ranges between 10 cm and 1 m. High frequency systems experience moderate sensitivity to interference.
• High frequency RFID cards are commonly used for transport , ticketing, site access , payment , membership ID and more.
• The ultra high frequency (UHF) cards operate at the range from 300 MHz to 3 GHz.
• Systems complying with the UHF cards use the 860 to 960 MHz band.
• UHF RFID is used in a wide variety of applications, ranging from retail inventory management, to pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting , wireless device configuration and more.