The card  is powered by a tiny battery, and generates a different security code (usually the three digit code printed on the back) every time it’s switched on. The number stored in the magnetic strip also changes – so it can’t be cloned, at least with current technology… 

… The code stored in the magnetic strip changes every time it’s used – so it’s very difficult to clone. You ‘tell’ the card to switch on by entering a PIN code, and it displays the number. Without the code, it’s useless.

The card is the size of an ordinary credit or debit card, and the battery inside lasts for three years. Dynamics Inc, the company behind the cards, says that its ‘powered cards’ can also be used for cards that offer access to several accounts from one card, or cards that hide a portion of the number unless a PIN is entered.

‘All that is needed to steal a credit card number today is a pen and paper or a portable card reader,’ says maker Dynamics Inc, which showed off the card at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.

Read full report here