Editing Smart card (section)

=====Power supply=====

As Complex Cards contain more components than traditional smart cards, their power consumption must be carefully monitored.

First generation Complex Cards require a power supply even in standby mode. As such, product designers generally included a battery in their design. Incorporating a battery creates an additional burden in terms of complexity, cost, space and flexibility in an already dense design. Including a battery in a Complex Card increases the complexity of the manufacturing process as a battery cannot be hot laminated.

Second generation Complex Cards feature a battery-free design. These cards harvest the necessary power from external sources; for example when the card interacts in a contact or [[Electromagnetic induction|contactless]] fashion with a payment system or an NFC-enabled smartphone.  The use of a bistable display in the card design ensures that the screen remains legible even when the Complex Card is unconnected to the power source.