Abstract: In the case of a device for holding chip cards in a position associated with a scanning device and comprising a retaining device arranged adjacent to an intake gap, simple and low-price means are employed to ensure that there is definitely no possibility of a chip card, once inserted, being prematurely and improperly withdrawn, because the retaining device comprises an intake mouth with at least two jaws delimiting it, of which at least one jaw is able to be moved towards the other jaw and is able to be moved away from it and at least one jaw has a retaining claw adapted to lock onto the other jaw when the intake mouth is closed.