A CREDIT CARD with a built-in store of information about the holder and his or her financial state. The information is stored in a wafer-like microchip embedded in the plastic. These were pioneered in France where 3 million had been issued by the end...

A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC), is defined as any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits which can process information. This implies that it can receive input which is processed - by way of the ICC applications -...