Apparatus for processing "smart" cards

Apparatus for processing smart cards, each card comprising a body, electrical contact tabs, and an integrated circuit placed in the card body and electrically connected to said tabs, said integrated circuit including storage means for storing monetary amounts unit-by-unit as the card is used, said apparatus comprising:

• processor means capable of processing data stored in a card and suitable for feeding electrical power to said integrated circuit, said processor means including comparator means for comparing the quantity of units already used with a plurality, n, of predetermined threshold amounts, together with control means responsive to said comparator means for controlling the marking of the card body at a location corresponding to that one of said thresholds which has been reached;
• electrical connections suitable, when a card is in a determined position suitable for enabling data to be read from and/or written to said storage means, for inter-connecting said processor means and said integrated circuit in a card via said contact tabs;
• and
• marker means under the control of said processor means for marking the body of a card with marks representative of the quantity of charge units in the card which have already been used up.