The standard Operatvie SCL card is not just a piece of
paper with the Operatives details on it. Instead it is a sophisticated 'Smart
Card' that holds detailed information about the user. The first
sign that an Operative will get that the card has additional
capabilities is when they complete their first BPN. On return to
Suburbia, Uptown or Mort Central, they will find that their new SCL has
already been updated on their card. This is done remotely by Station
Analysis once they have received confirmation that the BPN has been
completed properly.

Unknown to most Operatives, the card also stores a
list of the BPNs that have been completed to achieve this level of SCL.
By simply plugging an SCL card into a terminal you will receive basic
information and links to further information about the card holders
BPNs. This allows departments to quickly confirm that the Operative has
undertaken BPNs they claim they have. An additional benefit is that it
makes it a lot harder to forge the SCL of a card as there will likely be
discrepancies between the stored data and the displayed SCL.

To prevent Forgery of the cards each time an Operative
passes on to the next whole number (ie: from SCL 9B.8 to SCL8.3 on
completion of a White BPN) their SCL card is replaced with a new card
which has higher encryption on it. The card looks different as well, so
that someone can identify the general level of SCL just by looking at
it. This also prevents someone taking an SCL 10 card and hacking it so
that it shows SCL 5 on it.