In message , at 14:13:48 on Tue, 24 Jan
2012, Adam H. Kerman remarked:
They aren't proximity cards? The standard is IEC 14443, which has
the "proximity cards" in its title. The standard doesn't define a
technology that uses radio frequencies in identification?

Sorry, I thought RFID could be used, generically, to describe any
proximity card that used radio frequencies in identification technology

Apparently not. The name seems to be PICC, with RFID reserved for tags
which are (broadly speaking) electronic serial numbers.

Looking at http://www.rfid.org/, there's a conspicuous absence of
anything to do with "paywave" credit cards or ICAO passports.

(But note that a US passport *card* does seem to qualify as an RFID due
to its very limited capabilities).

That doesn't mean that in the popular press the terms aren't often
blurred.
--
Roland Perry