** Current members ***

When paying your BirdLife South Africa subscription, please use your membership number as payment reference.

*** New members ***

Please use your initials and surname as payment reference.

Useful Information

We have recently had a few cases of cheques fraud where cheques have been intercepted in the post, "washed" and all the information on the face of the cheques with the exception of the signature altered and the cheques deposited in different bank accounts.

Cases have been opened with the South African Police Services by the people whose cheques have been altered. Unfortunately it is the responsibility of the drawer of the cheques to open a case of fraud and not the responsibility of BirdLife South Africa as we were never the recipient of the cheques.

The recommendation of the SAPS is that cheques should not be sent via the post as cheque interception and fraud is a common occurrence.

Payment Methods

We recommend the following methods of payment to avoid cheque fraud:

Payment by Credit Card

Complete the section on the membership application form or your membership renewal notice with your credit card details and return it to BirdLife South Africa and we will process it via our credit card terminal.  Please note we are currently experiencing problems with our online credit card facility.

Payment by Electronic Banking

Paying your subscription by electronic banking is probably the safest way of paying your membership. Use your membership number as a reference so that we can pick up the deposit on our bank statement and process your membership accordingly.

Payment by Direct Deposit into BirdLife South Africa Bank Account

Complete a bank deposit slip at any First National Bank branch and deposit the cheques or cash directly into our account. Once again use your membership number as a reference number.

BirdLife South Africa's bank account details

Account Name: BirdLife South Africa
Bank: First National Bank, Randburg
Branch Code: 254005
Account Number: 62067506281
SWIFT: FIRNZAJJ

Payment by Cheque

If you do wish to pay your membership subscription by cheque and sending it via the post, we strongly suggest that you do the following:

• Make cheques payable to "BIRDLIFE SOUTH AFRICA" only and do not make cheques payable to "BLSA" as these cheques can be altered.
• Make cheques "NOT TRANSFERABLE". You can purchase a stamp at a stationery store with this wording on it and then place the stamp on the face of the cheques.

Please note that if cheques are crossed "NOT TRANSFERABLE" and not made out to "BIRDLIFE SOUTH AFRICA" the bank may not accept your cheques as payment as they are not made out to the correct account name, and return it BirdLife South Africa as unpaid. This will lead to an increase in membership administration and inconvenience to members who will have to reissue cheques to pay for their membership subscriptions.

We have instituted a control system to record cheques received through the post. This system will enable us to trace any fraud that takes place after the cheques are received by BirdLife South Africa, but would still not prevent cheques being intercepted and fraudulently altered before being received by Birdlife South Africa.

We would appeal to all members who pay their BirdLife South Africa subscription by cheques to reconsider this method of payment and choose one of the other methods of payment to avoid cheque fraud as once a cheques has been fraudulently altered it is the drawer of the cheque's responsibility to notify your bank and open a case of fraud with the SAPS, and in the end you may still be liable for the amount of the fraudulently altered cheques.

For further enquiries or more information, please contact Shireen Gould, Membership Manager on +27(0)11 789 1122 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it