There are around 3 Major types of RFID card, the Proximity card, the Vicinity Card, and the Long Range Card. Within these classifications there are quite a few different “flavors” of RFID card, however I’ve only listed some of the most popular kinds.
Different cards can have different amount of intelligence to them, the originals just had a serial number that they repeatedly sent once powered up, after that cards with re-programmable memory came out, and the latest ones can run computations and encrypt data completely on the card, all without a battery!
The most common type are proximity cards, these can only be read from a couple inches away and include credit cards, presto cards, door access fobs, and any kind of tag you’re told to scan with your phone.
After that comes proximity cards these tags aren’t meant to be concisely interacted with, and are most commonly used as alarm tags on products, they are also used by libraries to speed up book check-outs.
Long-range tags are often used in commercial settings for tracking products in wearhouses, they often use active tags (tags that contain their own battery and transmitter) in order to achieve longer ranges.