There are also levels. When you start the game you will be at level 1. You can work your way up to level 100 by completing heists and missions. Each time you level up, you receive a skill point. This is a very useful thing as you can unlock different abilities. Abilities can be very different as there are 5 different skill trees. Mastermind, Enforcer, Technician, Ghost and Fugitive. Mastermind focuses on leadership. Enforcer focuses on purely offence. Technician focuses on gadgets such as ECMs and Sentry guns. Ghost purely focuses on stealth. Fugitive focuses on movement.
Once you hit level 100, you can become infamous. This will cost all your spending cash so make sure you can use as much as possible. As well as all cash, it will cost a fair amount from your offshore account and all your skill points. It will also reset your level back to level 1. However you will be part of the infamy and you will have the number of your infamy level next to your normal level. For example: 1-15. This means a player is on the first infamy level but on level fifteen. Being in the infamy unlocks a new set of skills and achievements. This includes new masks as well. There are a total of 25 infamy levels. This is a total of levelling up 2500 times so it will take a while.