Features
of Smart Card Reader
To
process a smart ID card (e.g. use the e-Cert embedded to conduct
electronic transactions), the computer has to be equipped
with a smart card reader with the following mandatory features.
Mandatory
Features
To
process a smart ID card, a smart card reader with the following
mandatory features is required.
| Feature |
Requirement |
Remarks |
| Smart
Card Interface Standard |
ISO
7816 |
ISO
7816 is required as the smart ID card adopts this standard. |
| Driver |
PC/SC |
As
the applications in the smart ID card conform to the PC/SC
specification, a PC/SC driver supporting the OS of the
computer is required. |
Brief
descriptions of the features are provided below :
(a)
Smart Card Interface Standard - ISO 7816 is an
international standard that describes the interface requirements
for contact-type smart card. It has multiple parts. Part
1, 2 and 3 are applicable to card readers. Part 1 defines
the physical characteristics of the card. Part 2 defines
dimension and location of chip contacts of the card. Part
3 defines electronic signals and transmission protocols
of the card. Card readers may be referred to as conforming
to ISO 7816 1/2/3, or in its simplified term, ISO 7816.
(b)
Driver - This refers to the software used by the
operating system (OS) of a PC for managing a smart card
and a card reader. To read a smart ID card, the driver of
the card reader must be PC/SC compliant which is supported
by most card reader products available in market. It should
be noted that different OS would require different drivers.
In acquiring card readers, the compatibility between the
driver and the OS has to be ensured.
Desirable
Features
In
addition to the mandatory features, the following desirable
features would be required subject to the needs of the cardholders
:
| Feature |
Requirement |
Remarks |
| Type
of Card Contact |
Landing
contact |
Landing
contact type is desired in view of the protection it can
provide to the smart ID card which is expected to last
for at least 10 years. |
| Software
Interface Standard |
Europay,
MasterCard and Visa (EMV) |
EMV
is desired in consideration of its capability for supporting
potential electronic payment applications. |
Brief
descriptions of the features are provided below :
(a)
Type of Card Contact - It refers to how the contact
between a card reader and a card is physically made. There
are basically two main types of contact : landing contact
and friction contact (also known as sliding or wiping).
For card readers of friction contact, the contact part is
fixed. The contact wipes on the card surface and the chip
when a card is inserted. For card readers of the landing
type, the contact part is movable. The contact “lands”
on the chip after a card is wholly inserted. In general,
card reader of landing type provides better protection to
the card than that of the friction type.
(b)
Software Interface Standard – EMV is a common
application standard developed by the consortium of Europay
International, MasterCard International and Visa International
(EMV) with an aim to facilitate the use of smart cards for
payments worldwide. To pave the way for future payment applications
that may run on a smart card, it may be worth acquiring
a card reader that supports EMV.
Related
Software
To access
the e-Cert on smart ID card, the e-Cert Control Manager software
provided by the Hongkong Post Certification Authority is required.
It can be downloaded from the Hongkong
Post Certification Authority website.
Specification
of Smart ID Card
To
facilitate the manufacturing/sourcing of the smart card readers,
a high level specification of the smart ID card is provided
below for reference :
| Card
Standard |
| Electrical
Contacts |
ISO7816 |
| Physical
characteristics |
ISO7810
(ID-1) |
| Operating
System |
| MULTOS
version 4.06 or higher |
| Chip
Characteristics |
| Brand |
Infineon |
| Family |
SLE66Plus |
| EEPROM
Size |
32
kbytes |
| Card
Characteristics |
| Card
material |
Polycarbonate |
| Card
type |
Microprocessor |
|
