Smart cards have been with us for the best part of two decades and for much of that time have been dismissed as "a solution in search of an application". As with other sectors of the computer market, early development has been largely hardware- led and dominated by proprietary systems. The major card manufacturers such as Gemplus, Bull and Schlumberger have focussed on providing a total solution, form Card and chip production to application development. Would-be scheme operators Have had to buy-in to this offer, opting for a single package and very little flexibility Of supplier or components.
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