That's why the piece of plastic is only used together with an ID card, driver's license or passport---the plastic has a smartcard but no photo, so the two compl

That's why the piece of plastic is only used together with an ID card, driver's license or passport---the plastic has a smartcard but no photo, so the two complement each other. Alternatively the smartcard can be used as a second factor together with a password but, as you correctly pointed out, it is not enough alone.