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return to the ISO Standards

Note: The following is an excerpt from the official ISO catalog. It is provided here as a convenience and is not authoritative. Refer to the original document as the authoritative reference.

ISO/IEC 7816 is a series of International Standards specifying integrated circuit cards and the use of such cards for interchange. These cards are identification cards intended for information exchange negotiated between the outside world and the integrated circuit in the card. As a result of information exchange, the card delivers information (computation result, stored data), and/or modifies its content (data storage, event memorization).

Five parts are specific to cards with galvanic contacts and three of them specify electrical interfaces.

• ISO/IEC 7816-01 Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards — Part 1: Cards with contacts — Physical characteristics
• ISO/IEC 7816-02 Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards — Part 2: Cards with contacts — Dimensions and location of the contacts
• ISO/IEC 7816-03 Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards — Part 3: Cards with contacts — Electrical interface and transmission protocols
• ISO/IEC 7816-10 Identification cards — Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts — Part 10: Electronic signals and answer to reset for synchronous cards
• ISO/IEC 7816-12 Identification cards - Integrated circuit cards — Part 12: Cards with contacts — USB electrical interface and operating procedures

All the other parts are independent of the physical interface technology. They apply to cards accessed using contacts and/or by contactless methods.

• ISO/IEC 7816-04 Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards — Part 4: Organization, security and commands for interchange
• ISO/IEC 7816-05 Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards — Part 5: Registration of application providers
• ISO/IEC 7816-06 Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards — Part 6: Interindustry data elements for interchange
• ISO/IEC 7816-07 Identification cards — Integrated circuit(s) cards with contacts — Part 7: Interindustry commands for Structured Card Query Language (SCQL)
• ISO/IEC 7816-08 Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards — Part 8: Commands and mechanisms for security operations
• ISO/IEC 7816-09 Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards — Part 9: Commands for card management
• ISO/IEC 7816-11 Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards — Part 11: Personal verification through biometric methods
• ISO/IEC 7816-13 Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards — Part 13: Commands for application management in a multi-application environment
• ISO/IEC 7816-15 Identification cards — Integrated circuit cards — Part 15: Cryptographic information application

ISO/IEC 10536 specifies access by close coupling. ISO/IEC 14443 and ISO/IEC 15693 specify access by radiofrequency. Such cards are also known as contactless cards.