Membership E-Cards : Information

In 2024, BCA and BCRA are moving towards the use of online membership cards (e-cards) and will not be issuing plastic membership cards except on specific request, and whilst there is still stock of the plastic blanks.
Document last updated on Fri, 05 Apr 2024 18:59:09 +0100

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Accessing Your E-Card▲

To access your e-card you will need your membership number and your e-card number. These were emailed to you when your BCA or BCRA membership application was processed. If you follow the URL given in the email it will bring you to the page you are reading now, but with the boxes below already filled in.

Verifying an E-Card▲

To verify an e-card that has been presented to you, type the membership number and the e-card number into the boxes above, and click on Show E-Card.

Roll-out of E-Cards▲

Initially, e-cards are available for the following groups of people...

Direct Individual Members of BCA (DIMs). This includes all Individual and Joint members of BCRA.
Club Individual Members of BCA (CIMs), provided we have a valid email address for you.
Group Members of BCA. This includes Caving Clubs, Associate Members and Access Controlling Bodies.

Later in the year, e-cards will be available for further categories of BCRA membership, where the member is not also a member of BCA. (See BCRA Membership and Subscriptions). This will include

Group Members (including caving clubs) that are not also members of BCA
Associate Members (General)
Associate Members (Students)
CREG Subscribers

Using your E-Card▲

Your e-card is a convenient reminder of your membership information. Later in 2024 we will add a facility for you to change your contact details and renew your membership. Your e-card also includes a QR code that you can use as an admission ticket to any meetings and events that make use of this facility.

Storing Your E-Card▲

First display your e-card, then ...

On a phone or tablet

In your browser, click on the menu icon and select the option for Add to Home Screen or Add Page to or whatever similar phrasing your browser uses. Tap there and follow the instructions to add an icon to your home screen, bookmarks, saved pages or wherever.

Please note that if you need to access your e-card in an area where there is no phone signal you should test this first, e.g. by setting your phone to flight mode and switching off wi-fi. Different phone browsers work in different ways and some will allow you to access an offline copy of your card, whereas others will simply report that you do not have Internet access. Adding to Home Screen might result in a different behaviour to Save Page. We'll pin all this down eventually.

On a PC

In your browser, click on the menu icon and select Bookmarks then follow the instructions.

Alternatively, from the address bar in your browser, click on the Share icon, and then save the page to your desktop. Your browser may offer different but similar methods to those described above.

Login Reminders▲

If you somehow manage to lose your login details, you will need to email us so that we can send them to you again. For security, we can only send to the email address that is stored in our records. Please allow three days for this, as BCA staff only work part-time. If your email address has changed you will need to persuade us of who you really are, and we will need to update your e-card data before we can send you a reminder of how to access it. So this is not going to happen instantly!

Obtaining a Printed Card▲

BCA has decided, as a general rule, to stop issuing plastic membership cards in 2024. However, you can request one if you wish, but these will only be issued whilst we continue to hold stock of the plastic blanks. Please contact the BCA Membership Office.

Printing Your Own Card▲

Our e-cards have been designed to be viewed online on your phone or PC using your web browser. To make a copy of your e-card you should first export it as a screen-shot and then print it from the screen-shot. Brief instructions are given below.

Do not try to print your card directly from the online view as the result will likely be badly-formatted and unusable as a printed membership card. This is because it is being displayed to you from a web browser, and the way web browsers work mean that the information is not properly formatted for making an exact printed copy.

To make a good copy of your e-card...

From your phone: First, tell your phone to make a screen-shot of the e-card. The procedure varies from phone to phone – on some devices you should press the volume and side-key buttons at the same time; on others you can swipe down and select 'screen-shot' from the displayed icons. Copious online help is available for this procedure. The screen-shot will (probably) be saved on your phone as a JPG file in your photo gallery, from where you can print it – provided your phone has access to a printer, of course.

From your Windows PC: Press the Ctrl and Print Scrn keys together, which will copy a screen-shot to your clipboard. Then open Microsoft Word, or your favourite DTP or photo-editing package and paste your clipboard into a document. Re-size it and crop it as you require and then save and print the document.

Occasionally-Asked Questions▲

What settings should I use in my spam filter?

To ensure you receive emails from us, you should set your spam filter to accept messages from webmasterorg.uk, email_server_bouncesorg.uk and noreplyorg.uk

Please note... a) You will probably not be able to successfully paste those addresses from your browser – you will need to enter them manually.

Can you send my e-card to my club secretary?

No. If you do not have an email address of your own (or you do not want to give us your email address) then we will not be able to send you an e-card. This is because the e-card URL that we send you may contain (as we develop the system) a link to a personal information page where you can alter your personal details. The e-card URL is personal data and we will therefore only issue it to you, yourself.

If I give you my email address, how do I know you wont 'spam' me?

BCA's policy statement on the use of email addresses states that...

BCA may use the email address that you give on your membership application form to send you the admin. emails that allow it to function (e.g. notifications about membership renewal, AGM, ballots, etc.). You can opt out at any time by contacting us.

I do not have an email address, will you send me a plastic card?

No. Not unless you specifically ask for one. And even then, only whilst we still have stock of the plastic blanks.

Why Havent I Heard From You?

Quite a few messages to CIMs are bouncing because the email address is faulty, or the mailbox is full. Please note that, apart from correcting obvious typos, we shall not be following these up. Each CIM member should ensure that their club secretary has correctly recorded their current email address. Club secretaries should ensure that they confirm their members' email addresses each year instead of using an old list.