In 90’s transponder chips began to be integrated into car keys to provide additional security to the vehicle. From the chip installed in the plastic cover on the bow of the key, a message will be sent to tell the car that this key is the right key.
This was done to prevent things like hot wiring and slide hammer attacks. With a transponder key, simply copying the bitting codes on the key blade will not give you the ability to start the vehicle.
When the car has a properly shaped key inserted, it sends out an electric charge then powers the transponder chip, which allows it to send a message to the transceiver of the car. If the transponder is not programmed or non-existent, the transceiver of the car will not get the correct message and will not start the engine.
Most often, transponder key programming will go hand in hand with cutting a new car key, but this is not always the case. Keys can be cut at a different location and then brought to the locksmith for transponder programming.
This will require that the key has already been cut does have a transponder chip in the assembly. With the programming service, customers can also have the existing transponder key codes removed from their car’s computer so that no keys will work except for the new ones.