The present invention permits deferring the final provisioning of the Card Information Structure (CIS) in the attribute memory space of expansion cards (or modules) for portable hosts. This enables expansion cards to be distributed, sold, and installed by their end-users prior to the final provisioning, which is performed during their initial use. A temporary default CIS image is provided that permits baseline functionality of the expansion card with a host device. Providing the default CIS data enables provisional installation and operation of the card in the host, including accessing the card by way of default card services and socket software layers, as provided in the standard software environment of the host. The provisional operation enables higher level software to program the final CIS values in the peripheral controller internal CIS data-structure, EEPROM on the card, or any combination of the two.