If a scheme is initiated by a Local Authority, it would normally provide initial funds for the development and establishment of the scheme. In Europe, national and European grants are often available, and commercial sponsors are frequently eager to associate themselves with Citizens' Card schemes. Citizens' Cards contain a central kernel area for cardholder personal data, and further areas for the storage of data relating to third party applications. Such data spaces can be allocated dynamically and can be deleted if no longer required. There is no preset limit to the number of functional areas so allocated, up to the limit of storage space within a card.
Many current schemes expect to hold at least eight internal areas for different applications.
It may not always be possible or desirable to provide external branding on card surfaces for each application or function contained within the card chip. Furthermore, not all cards in a particular scheme will contain the same mix of applications. Cardholders should be provided with a mechanism to check which applications are live within their own card, and to display key balances and information from each application. These processes can be provided at cardholder-activated terminals resident in shops, offices and homes, or by personal sleeves or other readers carried by cardholders. Much of the technical infrastructure is this already developed, simplifying the introduction of a local scheme.