Scannable membership cards – all you need to know

There are quite a few reasons. Firstly, we hope it will create a better membership experience for you as we’ll be able to let you know by email about the events and places to visit you’re most interested in. On our reserves we’ll also be able to create a better experience by improving facilities or accessibility as we’ll have a better understanding of when people visit.  
 
The information we collect will also help us paint a more accurate picture of how visitors impact the reserve itself, allowing us to improve how we manage the landscape for the precious wildlife which lives there. 
 
By having scannable membership cards it will also help prevent them being used fraudulently.  As a charity, membership and admissions income from our nature reserves is a huge source of our income. Much of the money raised is spent directly on protecting the wildlife and wild spaces you love.  

We’ll start phasing them in from September 2023 onwards. All adult and adult family membership cards will eventually have them.

Cards for Youth members won’t have them because of data protection rules.

From October 2024 new Life Members will receive the redesigned Membership card containing their QR code within their welcome pack. However there are no plans at this early stage of the roll out to update or supply a QR code for existing Life Members as these plans are still in development.

Our valued Life members who do not have a QR code should continue to follow the existing process of displaying their membership cards when parking at RSPB reserves where parking charges apply.

Later in the year we’ll be introducing the kit needed to scan memberships at our larger nature reserves. When you visit, your card will need to be scanned to get your free parking spot and/or free entry to the reserve.  

We’ll then be rolling out scannable membership at reserves across the UK. Even if there is free parking and no entry fee, please scan your membership card so we can improve your membership experience. 

The QR code contains only three bits of information: 

• Your supporter number 
• Your membership number  
• The membership card’s expiry date 

There is no personal information held within the code.  

When you visit a nature reserve where cards can be scanned, the only information collected will be your supporter number and the time and date of your visit. This will be stored on a secure central database managed by the RSPB.

We’re looking into a digital version which would be sent by email and then stored in your phone’s digital wallet. 

But we know this option won’t be for everyone, so we’re working on how this will sit alongside the physical scannable version of the membership card.  

No. Scannable membership cards are now the norm for many membership organisations, including other conservation charities. We believe the benefits listed above are really good reasons for us to make this a compulsory step for all adult members.  

Don’t worry, there is no personal information on the card. If you lose it, just call us to ask for a new one on (01767) 693680 or email: membership@rspb.org.uk