A terminal application activation method, wherein a terminal comprises a master chip and a security module, the security module is connected to the master chip through at least two data channels, and the method comprises: obtaining, by the master chip, an initialization response message comprising application information of the security module, wherein the application information comprises information about at least two applications to-be-activated; simultaneously activating, by the master chip, the at least two applications, and allocating a corresponding data channel for each of the at least two applications; and performing, by the master chip, data communication with the at least two applications separately through data channels corresponding to the at least two applications; wherein the obtaining, by the master chip, application information of the security module comprises: sending, by the master chip, an initialization request message to the security module when the security module is powered on; sending, by the security module, the initialization response message comprising the application information to the master chip, wherein the initialization response message further comprises first indication information, and the first indication information comprises at least one of capability information used to indicate that the security module supports simultaneous activation of at least two applications and information about a maximum quantity of data channels supported by the security module; and receiving, by the master chip, the initialization response message. obtaining, by the master chip, an initialization response message comprising application information of the security module, wherein the application information comprises information about at least two applications to-be-activated; simultaneously activating, by the master chip, the at least two applications, and allocating a corresponding data channel for each of the at least two applications; and performing, by the master chip, data communication with the at least two applications separately through data channels corresponding to the at least two applications; wherein the obtaining, by the master chip, application information of the security module comprises: sending, by the master chip, an initialization request message to the security module when the security module is powered on; sending, by the security module, the initialization response message comprising the application information to the master chip, wherein the initialization response message further comprises first indication information, and the first indication information comprises at least one of capability information used to indicate that the security module supports simultaneous activation of at least two applications and information about a maximum quantity of data channels supported by the security module; and receiving, by the master chip, the initialization response message. sending, by the master chip, an initialization request message to the security module when the security module is powered on; sending, by the security module, the initialization response message comprising the application information to the master chip, wherein the initialization response message further comprises first indication information, and the first indication information comprises at least one of capability information used to indicate that the security module supports simultaneous activation of at least two applications and information about a maximum quantity of data channels supported by the security module; and receiving, by the master chip, the initialization response message.