Contactless smart card

This article is about smart cards that use radio to transmit data. For smart cards that use electrical connectors, see smart card.
Size comparison of chip compared to a Canadian penny

A contactless smart card is a contactless 13.56-MHz credential whose dimensions are credit-card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store and sometimes process data and communicate with a terminal via radio waves. 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 do 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.

Overview

A contactless smart card is also characterized as follows:

Benefits

Contactless smart cards can be used for identification, authentication, and data storage.[2] They also provide a means of effecting business transactions in a flexible, secure, standard way with minimal human intervention.

History

Universal contactless smart card reader symbol

Contactless smart cards were first used for electronic transport ticketing in 1992 in Oulu, Finland,[3] in 1995 in Tampere, Finland,[4] and in 1996 in Turku, Finland (after a trial run in 1991)[4] and Seoul, South Korea (after a trial run in 1995).[5][6]

Since then, smart cards with contactless interfaces have been increasingly popular for payment and ticketing applications such as mass transit. Globally, contactless fare collection is being employed for efficiencies in public transit. The various standards emerging are local in focus and are not compatible, though the MIFARE Classic card from Philips has a large market share in the United States and Europe.

In more recent times, Visa and MasterCard have agreed to standards for general "open loop" payments on their networks, with millions of cards deployed in the U.S.,[7] UK, France and around the world.

Smart cards are being introduced in personal identification and entitlement schemes at regional, national, and international levels. Citizen cards, drivers’ licenses, and patient card schemes are becoming more prevalent. In Malaysia, the compulsory national ID scheme MyKad includes 8 different applications and is rolled out for 18 million users. Contactless smart cards are being integrated into ICAO biometric passports to enhance security for international travel.

Readers

Contactless smart card readers use radio waves to communicate with, and both read and write data on a smart card. When used for electronic payment, they are commonly located near PIN pads, cash registers and other places of payment. When the readers are used for public transit they are commonly located on fare boxes, ticket machines, turnstiles, and station platforms as a standalone unit. When used for security, readers are usually located to the side of an entry door.

Technology

RF smart card schematic

A contactless smart card is a card in which the chip communicates with the card reader through an induction technology similar to that of an RFID (at data rates of 106 to 848 kbit/s). These cards require only close proximity to an antenna to complete a transaction. They are often used when transactions must be processed quickly or hands-free, such as on mass transit systems, where a smart card can be used without even removing it from a wallet.

The standard for contactless smart card communications is ISO/IEC 14443. It defines two types of contactless cards ("A" and "B")[8] and allows for communications at distances up to 10 cm (3.9 in). There had been proposals for ISO/IEC 14443 types C, D, E, F and G that have been rejected by the International Organization for Standardization. An alternative standard for contactless smart cards is ISO/IEC 15693, which allows communications at distances up to 50 cm (1.6 ft).

Examples of widely used contactless smart cards are Taiwan's EasyCard, Hong Kong's Octopus card, Shanghai's Public Transportation Card, South Korea's T-money (bus, subway, taxi), London's Oyster card, Beijing's Municipal Administration and Communications Card, Japan Rail's Suica Card, the San Francisco Bay Area's Clipper Card, and India's More Card which predate the ISO/IEC 14443 standard. The following tables list smart cards used for public transportation and other electronic purse applications.

A related contactless technology is RFID (radio frequency identification). In certain cases, it can be used for applications similar to those of contactless smart cards, such as for electronic toll collection. RFID devices usually do not include writeable memory or microcontroller processing capability as contactless smart cards often do.

There are dual-interface cards that implement contactless and contact interfaces on a single card with some shared storage and processing. An example is Porto's multi-application transport card, called Andante, that uses a chip in contact and contactless (ISO/IEC 14443 type B) mode.

Like smart cards with contacts, contactless cards do not have a battery. Instead, they use a built-in inductor, using the principle of resonant inductive coupling, to capture some of the incident electromagnetic signal, rectify it, and use it to power the card's electronics.

Communication protocols

Communication protocols
Name Description
ISO/IEC 14443 APDU transmission via the protocol defined in ISO/IEC 14443-4[9]

Applications

Transportation

Since the start of using the Seoul Transportation Card, numerous cities have moved to the introduction of contactless smart cards as the fare media in an automated fare collection system.

In a number of cases these cards carry an electronic wallet as well as fare products, and can be used for low-value payments.

Contactless bank cards

Starting around 2005, a major application of the technology has been contactless payment credit and debit cards. Some major examples include:

Roll-outs started in 2005 in the United States, and in 2006 in some parts of Europe and Asia (Singapore).[10] In the U.S., contactless (non PIN) transactions cover a payment range of ~$5–$100.

In general there are two classes of contactless bank cards: magnetic stripe data (MSD) and contactless EMV.

Contactless MSD cards are similar to magnetic stripe cards in terms of the data they share across the contactless interface. They are only distributed in the U.S. Payment occurs in a similar fashion to mag-stripe, without a PIN and often in off-line mode (depending on parameters of the terminal). The security level of such a transaction is better than a mag-stripe card, as the chip cryptographically generates a code which can be verified by the card issuer's systems.

Contactless EMV cards have two interfaces (contact and contactless) and work as a normal EMV card via their contact interface. The contactless interface provides similar data to a contact EMV transaction, but usually a subset of the capabilities (e.g. usually issuers will not allow balances to be increased via the contactless interface, instead requiring the card to be inserted into a device which uses the contact interface). EMV cards may carry an "offline balance" stored in their chip, similar to the electronic wallet or "purse" that users of transit smart cards are used to.

Identification

A quickly growing application is in digital identification cards. In this application, the cards are used for authentication of identity. The most common example is in conjunction with a PKI. The smart card will store an encrypted digital certificate issued from the PKI along with any other relevant or needed information about the card holder. Examples include the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Common Access Card (CAC), and the use of various smart cards by many governments as identification cards for their citizens. When combined with biometrics, smart cards can provide two- or three-factor authentication. Smart cards are not always a privacy-enhancing technology, for the subject carries possibly incriminating information about him all the time. By employing contactless smart cards, that can be read without having to remove the card from the wallet or even the garment it is in, one can add even more authentication value to the human carrier of the cards.

Other

The Malaysian government uses smart card technology in the identity cards carried by all Malaysian citizens and resident non-citizens. The personal information inside the smart card (called MyKad) can be read using special APDU commands.[11]

Security

Smart cards have been advertised as suitable for personal identification tasks, because they are engineered to be tamper resistant. The embedded chip of a smart card usually implements some cryptographic algorithm. There are, however, several methods of recovering some of the algorithm's internal state.

Differential power analysis

Differential power analysis[12] involves measuring the precise time and electric current required for certain encryption or decryption operations. This is most often used against public key algorithms such as RSA in order to deduce the on-chip private key, although some implementations of symmetric ciphers can be vulnerable to timing or power attacks as well.

Physical disassembly

Smart cards can be physically disassembled by using acid, abrasives, or some other technique to obtain direct, unrestricted access to the on-board microprocessor. Although such techniques obviously involve a fairly high risk of permanent damage to the chip, they permit much more detailed information (e.g. photomicrographs of encryption hardware) to be extracted.

Concerns

Failure rate
The plastic card in which the chip is embedded is fairly flexible, and the larger the chip, the higher the probability of breaking. Smart cards are often carried in wallets or pockets — a fairly harsh environment for a chip. However, for large banking systems, the failure-management cost can be more than offset by the fraud reduction. A card enclosure may be used as an alternative to help prevent the smart card from failing.
Privacy
Using a smart card for mass transit presents a risk for privacy, because such a system enables the mass transit operator (and the authorities) to track the movement of individuals. In Finland, the Data Protection Ombudsman prohibited the transport operator YTV from collecting such information, in spite of YTV's argument that the owner of the card has the right to get a list of journeys paid with the card. Prior to this, such information was used in the investigation of the Myyrmanni bombing.
Theft and fraud
Contactless technology does not necessarily prevent use of a PIN for authentication of the user, but it is common for low value transactions (bank credit or debit card purchase, or public transport fare payment) not to require a PIN. This may make such cards more likely to be stolen, or used fraudulently by the finder of someone else's lost card.
Use abroad
Inland data networks quickly convey information between terminals and central banking systems, such that contactless payment limits may be monitored and managed. This may not be possible with use of such cards when abroad.
Multiple cards detection
When two or more contactless cards are in close proximity the system may have difficulty determining which card is intended to be used. The card-reader may charge the incorrect card or reject both.[13]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ ISO/IEC 7810:2003 Identification cards — Physical characteristics
  2. ↑ Multi-application Smart Cards. Cambridge University Press.
  3. ↑ Toropainen, Panu (29 July 2010), "Kunnossapitojärjestelmän käyttöönotto" (PDF)
  4. 1 2 Lehtonen, Tanja (November 2009), "Tampereen joukkoliikenteen nettilatauspalvelun suunnittelu ja kehittäminen" (PDF)
  5. ↑ "4th Asian Transport Revenue Collection Forum – Overview". Asia Pacific Smart Card Association. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  6. ↑ 50 Praxes for Better Transport in Korea. 길잡이미디어. 2014. ISBN 8955036574.
  7. ↑ Smartcard Alliance FAQ on contactless bank cards
  8. ↑ ISO/IEC 14443-2:2001 Identification cards – Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards – Proximity cards – Part 2: Radio frequency power and signal interface
  9. ↑ ISO/IEC 14443-4:2008 Identification cards – Contactless integrated circuit cards – Proximity cards – Part 4: Transmission protocol
  10. ↑ "ComfortDelgro introduces contactless credit card payment". contactless credit card payment.
  11. ↑ MyKad website
  12. ↑ Power Analysis Attacks. Springer.
  13. ↑ "Watch out for card clash". Transport for London. Mayor of London. Retrieved 18 July 2014.

References

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