Smartcards able to hold multiple data stores and communicate automatically using radio waves are finding uses in areas as diverse as sport event tickets and hospital access systems.

The number of cards will double in the next three years, reaching almost 4.6 billion globally by 2010, according to analyst Gartner.

A major growth area is intelligent ticketing systems. The UK’s most widely used smartcard system so far is Transport for London’s Oyster scheme, which has issued 10 million cards since it started in 2003.

The mainline rail sector is now following suit (see Go-Ahead case study) and even sports venues are predicting the technology will become mainstream before long (see Harlequins case study).

The other main development is contactless payment cards. All the major high-street banks, along with MasterCard and Visa, are participating in trials starting next month. And the two credit card firms predict they will have issued half a million cards each by the end of the year.