Chip card reader having contact and contactless operating modes

A chip card reader comprising:

• a central processing unit comprising means for emitting and receiving, on a communication bus having a single data wire, binary messages having a first format determined by a communication protocol for contact chip cards,
• a card receiving device comprising a contact card connector connected to the central processing unit by means of the communication bus, the contact card connector being therefore connected to said single data wire, and
• a contactless read head for contactless chip card comprising:
• means for receiving or sending, from or to a contactless chip can, messages having a second format determined by a communication protocol for contactless chip cards,
• a serial interface directly connected to said single data wire of said communication bus that carries the binary messages having the first format determined by a communication protocol for contact chip cards,
• means for converting messages received on the serial interface and having the first format into messages having the second format, and, vice versa, converting messages received from a contactless chip card and having the second format into messages having the first format applied on the serial interface, and
• hardware and software arranged so that the contactless read head does not respond to a contact chip card activation command received on the serial interface, and responds to a specific activation command of the contactless read head different from a contact chip card activation command.