A flash memory card reader and a single converter chip for reading both serial and parallel flash cards. The read has connectors for both serial and parallel data transfer flash memory cards. The reader has a single chip converter. The converter supports both serial I/O and parallel I/O. The serial I/O transfers data in multiple modes. Both single-bit and multi-bit serial data transfers modes are supported. The reader may have multiple slots, one have a connector for serial and one having a connector for parallel flash memory cards.