Microprocessor Smart Card Invented in Europe in the 1970s, smart cards were in wide use by the early 1980s. Smart cards are an easy, inexpensive way for European businesses to do off-line transaction verification. Off-line verification is preferred throughout Europe due to the high cost of telecommunications. In contrast, the cost of having the current magnetic stripe readers "on-line" via telecommunications is relatively inexpensive in the U.S. compared to the rest of the world. Thus, the United States has been slow to implement smart cards because it would require replacing the widely installed magnetic stripe card reading equipment with smart card readers.

The second type of smart card contains both a microprocessor as well as memory. Not only can cards can store massive amounts of information, but the micro-processor enables the card to make independent decisions regarding the information stored.

Eltron card printers can accommodate both types of chips, since they all offer an optional smart card contact station. The printer brings the card into the contact station and then passes programming signals from an external programmer to encode the smart chip.

Contactless smart cards utilize various RFID technologies to write and read. Many card printers print on these kinds of smart cards. Encoding or programming the electronic devices on these cards is typically accomplished by an external encoding or programming device, but contactless smart card encoders integrated into the card printer are increasingly available.