BMFA renewal

[EvilC57]

15 hours ago, kc said:

Means you need to be even more careful than usual about catching your fingers in the prop........

I wonder if your fingerprint still works for banking when you have been using cyano a lot!  

 

 

No I can confirm it doesn’t. I have to resort to my PIN for internet banking, logging into my iPhone/iPad etc. after anything model-related where I’ve been using cyano.  I guess in future I should try to get more the the glue on the models and not on my fingers!

[GrumpyGnome]

14 hours ago, Cuban8 said:

Consider the number of on-line transactions that are made world wide every day - many millions of them probably and I'd guess that only a tiny few are subject to fraud

 

Having worked in financial institutions for all my working life, I'd say it's billions of transactions, and the amount of fraud from strangers (hacking) is a tiny percentage of fraud, on a tiny number of transactions. Fraud by family members/partners is the highest percentage. 

 

If you are sensible, on-line banking is more secure than carrying cash/cheque book around.

 

I can't remember when I last wrote a cheque...... must be years ago.

[kc]

16 hours ago, Ron Gray said:

That’s why we have 2FA!

Ron,  what's that?

[Tim Kearsley]

4 minutes ago, kc said:

Ron,  what's that?

Two-factor authentication, KC.  For example, when I log into PayPal, they send me a text message to my mobile phone, containing a six-digit code which I have to enter to successfully enter the website.  That's 2FA!  It's another safeguard that the person logging is who they claim to be.

[kc]

3 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said:

 

 on-line banking is more secure than carrying cash/cheque book around.

 

.

I cannot believe that about cheques!   Online fraud has become huge recently.  Probably done by people who never even enter Britain.   Conversely someone would have to steal my cheque book by breaking into my house then forge my signature or perhaps duplicate a cheque and change details.   Then present the cheque at the bank and probably get seen by security cameras and pay it into some bank a/c that would be recorded.    Much safer by cheque, and if I need it I have record that I paid for the goods or fees.   Very important that record when paid by cheque - there could be no arguement that I hadn't paid the club or BMFA  & CAA fees if the cheque had passed through the bank.

 

 

It's not just my computer that could be insecure and give data away to fraudsters - the club treasurers laptop or smartphone could be stolen or hacked and used to get info from BMFA etc etc.   Probably dead easy to hack the treasurers computer compared to any commercial source of data.  

 

Edited December 11, 2022 by kc

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

10 hours ago, gangster said:

Personally as a membership secretary I would be happier to do the BMFA/CAA for the whole club as that gives a confirmation that everyone complies. As far as the renewal portal is concerned that has evolved well and I find it very user friendly. Someone on here mentioned the bulk renew fir a club. How does that work? Not everyone rejoins and now there is the added complications of plastic cards and CAA. Yes the closure of banks is an issue but paying in cheques is possible via the Post Office. We do not have internet banking at the moment, it’s a Luddite hobby and I suspect less than half the club would pay by transfer and setting anything up with a bank for a club seems to be a tedious process. Sadly members do not realise the sheer amount of work involved the membership secretary role. Like life in general those who think it simple are always those who sit on their hands at the agm when the jobs come up. 
 

Another plus for the BMFA. Who remembers the old sticker system? That was brilliant for its time way easier to use than the method used by another similar sized governing body in another sport

 

We have internet banking now, more pay online now than any other method, worth doing Gangster.

[Cuban8]

Use the bulk renew facility. I put 95% of renewals through in one go just after Christmas. 

To encourage people to renew promptly before New Year, ages ago we put our subs up by £15 but then offered a discount for paying before 1st January - works like a charm. Always call it a discount rather than something negative like rejoining fee, late payment charge or something similar that will irritate people- everyone loves a discount!

[gangster]

22 minutes ago, Cuban8 said:

Use the bulk renew facility. I put 95% of renewals through in one go just after Christmas. 

To encourage people to renew promptly before New Year, ages ago we put our subs up by £15 but then offered a discount for paying before 1st January - works like a charm. Always call it a discount rather than something negative like rejoining fee, late payment charge or something similar that will irritate people- everyone loves a discount!

Never tried the bulk renew but how does that work that we have options like plastic card CAA etc

[gangster]

1 hour ago, john stones 1 - Moderator said:

 

We have internet banking now, more pay online now than any other method, worth doing Gangster.

Something to look into for the new year. I suppose I am lacking enthusiasm to change the account based on past experience. I was treasurer for a different organisation and changes were impossible That organisation was not represented in the high street. They ignored letters and the phone was answered by monkeys. To change club officers involved getting a form which the mmonkeys would not send and if you did get one they ignored it. This went on time after time . When I went to draw from the deposit account it transpired that they had never changed the signatories and I had a struggling to find  all three ladies who had long left the club . They needed to authorise the change although they had not been club members for years. There had been numerous changes over the years that the bank had been notified of. To further complicate things I had recently set up a second deposit account only a couple of years earlier and it transpired that they had set it up with the same three old dears as signatories. In reality how does internet banking work for a club where you need two out of three signatories for a payment. That is where it could fall down for our club even if the bank made it work

[RottenRow]

41 minutes ago, gangster said:

Never tried the bulk renew but how does that work that we have options like plastic card CAA etc

 

If you are already able to renew the memberships of club members other than just yourself then you already have admin. rights on the membership portal.

 

There is a tile on there, under My Club, titled Bulk Renewal. Click on it and you will be able to see how it works for yourself. Much easier than trying to explain things step by step.

 

You can renew any membership (BMFA or CAA) as long as it is within the period allowed for renewals. You can't add the plastic card as far as I know but we don't have anyone with one so can't say for certain. At present the CAA renewals are greyed out on the bulk renewal page (due to them not expiring within the next 28 days, hopefully something that can get sorted out soon).

 

Brian.

[John Tee]

You can add the plastic card. It comes up after the member renewal. Only problem I had with that was last year a couple of members who renewed themselves wanted the club to do the card which caused a few problems when they shouild have done it themselves.

 

John

[gangster]

9 minutes ago, RottenRow said:

 

If you are already able to renew the memberships of club members other than just yourself then you already have admin. rights on the membership portal.

 

There is a tile on there, under My Club, titled Bulk Renewal. Click on it and you will be able to see how it works for yourself. Much easier than trying to explain things step by step.

 

You can renew any membership (BMFA or CAA) as long as it is within the period allowed for renewals. You can't add the plastic card as far as I know but we don't have anyone with one so can't say for certain. At present the CAA renewals are greyed out on the bulk renewal page (due to them not expiring within the next 28 days, hopefully something that can get sorted out soon).

 

Brian.

Will have to have a look I cannot see how it helps over the process of doing them one at a time and the greying out of the CAA seems to make it harder. The renewal portal seems great now they have ironed the bugs out

[gangster]

4 minutes ago, John Tee said:

You can add the plastic card. It comes up after the member renewal. Only problem I had with that was last year a couple of members who renewed themselves wanted the club to do the card which caused a few problems when they shouild have done it themselves.

 

John

Thanks John sounds like it comes up with the same page as it does if you pick them off one at a time which only takes a few seconds

[gangster]

21 hours ago, Nigel Heather said:

Just renewed mine.  Went okay but I found the BMFA poorly implemented in place - the biggest issue was that when you have finished and dare to click the button requesting a PDF invoice it locks up the application.

 

One mistake I may have made purely down to my misunderstanding is how I have handled the Operator registration.

 

I decided to do the CAA test for Flyer ID rather than the BMFA one and I assumed that meant that I would have to pay my £10 direct to the CAA.  So when it came to BMFA renewal I did not check the ‘pay CAA’.  I now suspect that I could have checked it and paid the CAA  through the BMFA even though I did the test with the CAA.  But it seems that it is too late now because as far as I can tell the BMFA app does not allow me to go back and pay the CAA fees.

 

I assume now that somehow I will be contacted by the CAA to make payment to them when my Operator ID expires.

Depends whether you have paid or not. If you have forgotten to add BMFA  or CAA you can go back by simply removing the whole thing from your basket. Then start again

[Dwain Dibley.]

Just paid up, nice and easy, but I noticed my op id is now due at the end of Jan, I only renewed it in July???

 

Oh Well

 

D.D.

[Frank Skilbeck]

7 hours ago, Dwain Dibley. said:

Just paid up, nice and easy, but I noticed my op id is now due at the end of Jan, I only renewed it in July???

 

Oh Well

 

D.D.

if you renewed it directly with the CAA last July then it probably doesn't show up on the BMFA site, you can check on the CAA website your operator ID details and expiry date. This will give you the details held by the CAA regardless of whether you registered directly with them or through an organisation.

Edited December 12, 2022 by Frank Skilbeck
added website address

[Keith Billinge]

I can't beleive the number of people on here who are scared of joining the 21st century and having a banking app on your phone/PC. The security nowadays, is very good and unless you give someone your pin number, or fingerprint, it's almost impossible for somebody to hack.
Honestly; it's far easier for somebody to forge a cheque or steal your card details at the point of sale in a shop.
Many online bank apps will have 2-step security whereby you get a text or an email before they let you log in and my Barclays one has a small pin card reader with encryption before I can log in. This is so much safer to use than cash or card alone.

Finally if you're really worried about online fraud, you can use an intermediary like PAYPAL for many online transactions these days, which protect your account details and give you a right to refund if there's a problem with a purchase.

 

Come on you lot take the plunge! 😁

[Cuban8]

I've just completed the majority of my clubs renewals via the BMFA portal and I'd say the take up of bank transfer has increased by quite a bit this year. I'd estimate 90% of our 80 members now pay by bank transfer which is a great help. Not a penny of cash was used this year either, which is brilliant.

I really can't remember the last time I wrote a cheque out myself.

The wife and I are also members of a couple of other local clubs and societies and they also favour and encourage their members to avoid cheques and especially cash if at all possible.

[andrew long]

This may have been answered somewhere but I cannot find a definitive, and up to date, answer so .......

I am a lone flyer, fixed wing, electric and always have SMAE/BMFA membership since late 70s. End of 2021 I renewed after doing the online competancy and also bought a CAA registration number through the BMFA. This year I have renewed BMFA but - do I need to pay CAA again (and in subsequent years) for continued use of their number? If I do not does it invalidate the BMFA insurance -  which is mainly what my membership is for?

Andrew Long

[Richard Wills 2]

You have to renew (and pay) annually for the operator number, otherwise you are flying illegally.  The insurance cover states it covers all legal recognised operations....

[kc]

Under 250 grams and without a camera seems not required,  but over 250 gms needs Operator ID and Flyer ID  to be legal which needs payment.

[andrew long]

Just been on the CAA website and had a look on 'my registration details' page. It seems to renew now I also need to do a 30 minute free test (I cannot see a way of renewing without doing the test ), although the renewal will apparently last for 5 years. Does this CAA test 'trump' the BMFA competancy test or would both need to be done for a new r/c flyer? If so they presumabley cover different model flying aspects

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

They both last for 5 years (except if you’re an active BMFA examiner when it needs to be renewed annually to validate the rating) and have equal validity. 

[Frank Skilbeck]

9 hours ago, andrew long said:

Just been on the CAA website and had a look on 'my registration details' page. It seems to renew now I also need to do a 30 minute free test (I cannot see a way of renewing without doing the test ), although the renewal will apparently last for 5 years. Does this CAA test 'trump' the BMFA competancy test or would both need to be done for a new r/c flyer? If so they presumabley cover different model flying aspects

I think the answer is if you are getting your operator ID directly from the CAA then you need to do their test, if you are getting it via the BMFA (or LMA) then you need to comply with their test/requirements.

[RottenRow]

There seems to be a lot of confusion with regard to the CAA registration and in particular its renewal.

If you originally paid for CAA registration via the BMFA, although you will receive an e-mail from the CAA shortly before your renewal becomes due, you should still renew via the BMFA. That way the ‘new’ RCC test does cover you for five years from when you originally took it, or your BMFA achievements cover you if appropriate.

The only time you need to deal directly with the CAA is then to let them know of changes of details such as e-mail address, which doesn’t automatically happen even if you let the BMFA know.

 

Brian.