The world of technology is ever-changing. From shopping to communication, technology has been changing almost every aspect of the modern lifestyle. Similar is the case with debit and credit cards. We have seen a massive growth of magnetic strip cards for digital payments, but now the change is visible and more people and businesses are opting for contactless smart cards, which are superior technology to magnetic stripe cards.

US Federal Transit Administration has also found various advantages of using contactless smart cards for payments, over traditional magnetic cards in terms of convenience, safety, reliability, speed of use, and lower operating costs.

WHAT ARE CONTACTLESS SMART CARDS?
In the modern world, contactless technology has become a common part of the everyday lives of people. The same technology is now available with contactless smart cards that are small portable cards, usually the size credit card, without a display and a keyboard. As the name suggests, these cards integrate contactless technology, coupled with a microprocessor, which wirelessly communicates with a card reader using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. It comes with a copper or aluminum antenna connected to a chip and then securely laminated the card. The options may be available from simple memory cards with low security to non-volatile memory structure up to high-security crypto-processor cards. These smartcards can be used for a variety of applications, such as credit cards, debit cards, travel cards, business access cards, etc.

BENEFITS OF CONTACTLESS SMART CARDS
It is estimated that contactless smart cards will very soon become the standard choice as they are simply the better choice consumers. Here in this blog, we bring to you the benefits of contactless smart cards over magnetics.

Better Security Over Magnetics
This is one of the best-known benefits of using smart cards, in comparison to magnetic cards, as they are designed with advanced biometrics technology to offer more storage and security, thanks to several encryption algorithms and electronic keys. We read about various frauds being done with the owners of debit and credit card owners due to the poor security of the technology. When it comes to contactless cards, they are backed with advanced technology, making them more secure. The biometric technology means active participation of the cardholder is ensured to perform a transaction. These cards are equipped with on-board microprocessors, which make it very difficult to hack, replicate or counterfeit.

Better Reliability & Low Maintenance Costs
If you are already bearing the expenses of transitioning with the cards having magnetic strips, it is time that you consider the long term. Switching t the contactless smart cards allows the users to save a lot from the maintenance charges of using a magnetic card. According to the specialists in the field, using smart cards is a far better choice as they are more reliable with a failure rate of 1 in 25,000, transactions which are 1 in 5,000 transactions for the magnetic stripe cards. And then the contactless smart cards do not consist of mechanical parts, which means there is minimized maintenance cost for for both parts and labor. Another great thing about smart cards is that they are waterproof, which means there are fewer replacements than magnetic stripe cards.

Faster And Easier To Use
There have been endless incidents when people complained about the slow processing of magnetic strip cards and the time required for the completion of the operation. This is not the matter when it comes to using contactless smart cards as they are designed to perform even the most complicated transactions in very little time. The same thing applies when we talk about ease of use. According to the professionals, these contactless smart cards can complete the transaction in about 300 milliseconds, making them quite better competitors than the magnetic strips. For example, if contactless smart cards are used for they can ensure improved traveler experience with faster boarding, which means increased operational efficiencies.

Lower Operating Costs And Reduce Losses
It is evident that contactless smart cards are more expensive than the magnetics, but if talking about the long-term results, the investment seems a worthy choice. This is because using the contactless cards means less expenses in maintenance costs. While magnetic strips cards may require less investments initially, but still they’re less costly overall because of the lower equipment costs and usable life of the smart card.

Great BI Benefits
These contactless smart cards are linked to the card data and systems across the transit enterprise, which makes it , a powerful business intelligence engine for route planning, in particular. Using these contactless smart cards allows the modern businesses as they can correlate smart card data to solutions for workforce management, KPIs in operations and many other purposes.

Faster Transactions
When it comes to using the contactless smart cards for payments, the biggest benefit anyone can enjoy is the faster touch free payment and transactions. It is estimated that the payments made through contactless smart cards can be completed within 15 seconds, which is twice as fast as normal cards. With the faster payments and no hassle of handling cash, turnover is likely to improve and queues are less likely to build up for a business. It is simple, as there is no need to input the PIN number, it takes a lot less time for the transaction and needs only a tap on a reader and it’s done.

Final words
Whether the reader is a business owner or an individual, using the contactless smart cards is suitable and beneficial for both as it creates a more sense of security, reliability while allowing the payments and transactions to be completed faster than the magnetic strip cards. The world of digital transactions is changing and being a part of the change is always important to stay on the top of the industry. Pair up with the latest technology and you can be sure about the speed as well as safety.