If you think the smart card is a new invention, keep in mind that its use dates back to 1968, when two men, named Helmut Grottrup and Jurgen Dethloff, invented what they called an automated chip card. However, these German rocket scientists would not obtain a patent for the card until 1982. At that point, the cards were called Telecarte. Consumers in France began using them a year later to use pay phones.

Smart Cards Grow In Popularity

In 1974, a man named Roland Moreno added his contribution to the smart card. At that time, he patented the concept of a memory card. Just three years after this, another inventor, Michel Ugon invented a new version, which contained a microprocessor. The following year, Honeywell Bull, who Ugon worked on behalf of, invented what was called the SPOM, or Self Programmable One Chip Microcomputer. This device was necessary to load information onto chip and was a critical component of the design of the smart card.

During the next years, Honeywell Bull would amass some 1200 patents, all related to smart cards in some way. The company would later sell some of these to other competitors as the need and the demand for these devices became larger.
In the 1990’s, the smart card really took off for general public use. It was at this point that smart card based SIM’s and GSM mobile phone equipment entered Europe. With their use in mobile phones, there was no doubt that these small devices, which just a few decades previously were unknown, would become such a dominant element in the marketplace.

Today, individuals looking for them can find smart cards throughout daily life. They are part of everything from mobile phones to health record devices and identification tools. It is even possible to find Kmart coupons and other discounts on products that contain these all important devices for everyday life.