The credit card companies promote them heavily to consumers as a way to conduct secure transactions on the Internet. To be sure, there's plenty of buzz. Here are the basics. A smart card is the size of a conventional credit or debit card. It is different from those because it contains an embedded computer chip.
Smart cards are dynamic or memory-only.
Dynamic smart cards contain microprocessor chips with embedded memory. The microprocessor chip allows a dynamic smart card to process data on its own. Memory-only smart cards contain memory chips with nonprogrammable logic. Smart card technology promises a higher level of security than credit cards because a smart card's microprocessor chip allows it to hold a digital signature. The chips are more difficult to counterfeit than magnetic swipe cards.