A smart card (1) has a card contact element (2) for establishing an electrical contact with a reader contact element of a smart card reader for reading the smart card (1) . The card contact element (2) has a contact surface (3) coated with a contact layer, said contact surface (3) being arranged to be brought into contact with the reader contact element. The contact layer comprises a multiele- ment material that has a composition of at least one of a carbide or nitride described by the formula MqAyXz, where M is a transition metal or a combination of transition metals, A is a group A element or a combination of group A elements, X is carbon or nitrogen or both, and q, y and z are numbers above zero. The multielement material further comprises at least one nanocomposite comprising single elements, binary phases, ternary phases, quaternary phases or higher order phases based on the atomic elements in the corresponding MqAyXz compound. A reader for reading a smart card (1) is also disclosed.