Social cards in the Russian Federation are issued to all persons entitled to benefits. One card the size of a bank allows you to replace many documents that otherwise you would have to keep with you to confirm such rights. And sometimes a social card additionally replaces a bank card.
Most often, social cards have to be seen among pensioners, but they are also issued to people with disabilities, students and any other persons who are entitled to receive benefits in one way or another. In all cases, it is the radio frequency identifier (RFID) of the common MIFARE standard. This makes it compatible with readers installed, for example, in transport. Unlike contactless tickets, a social card is made not of thick paper, but of plastic. Due to this, it is quite durable.
There is no power source in the card, as in any other device of the MIFARE standard. The energy of the radio waves from the reader, adopted by the device’s frame antenna, is enough to start the tiny microprocessor of the card, and then force it to generate and transmit a response.
The microprocessor has a built-in ROM, which stores information about the card holder, which benefits are available to him and which are not, and also when the card needs to be changed to a new one. When you bring the device to the reader, for example, on a bus, the validator will read the information stored in it and determine whether the user is entitled to free travel in this city. And if it does, a turnstile command will be given permission to enter the cabin.
Some social card holders are entitled to discounts when shopping at grocery stores. Usually this discount is available only in the morning, and it is often quite simple to present the card to the seller.
On the reverse side, the social card has a magnetic stripe. It is needed for compatibility with ATMs that are not equipped with RFID readers. This allows the user instead of two cards (social and banking) to carry one with him, combining both functions. And if the numbers of certificates of pension and health insurance are also recorded in the microprocessor's memory, in most institutions of the corresponding profiles the social card can replace these documents as well.
