Mastercard to allow transgender customers to use chosen names on credit cards

Company calls on other banks to apply the same standards

Mastercard to let transgender customers use their chosen names (Stock)

Mastercard will now allow transgender and non-binary customers to use their chosen names on their credit and debit cards.

In a statement on Monday, the company announced it would be implementing the initiative True Name in an effort to combat discrimination at the cash register.

According to the company, this means that a name on a credit card owned by a transgender person could be different than the name found on their birth certificate or driver’s licence.

“We are working with partners to create a product, as well as a sensitive and private process free of personal questions, that will allow for true names, not deadnames, to appear on cards without the requirement of a legal name change,” Mastercard said in a statement. “This will ease a major pain point for the transgender and non-binary community.”

In addition to implementing the change, the company also called on the industry to follow in “ensuring a way for people’s financial products to reflect their true identity”.

“We are allies of the LGBT+ community, which means if we see a need or if this community is not being served in the most inclusive way, we want to be a force for change to help address and alleviate unnecessary pain points,” said Randall Tucker, chief diversity and inclusion officer for Mastercard. “This translates not only for our Mastercard employee community but for our cardholders and the communities in which we operate more broadly. Our vision is that every card should be for everyone.”

In three states, Tennessee, Kansas and Ohio, transgender people are legally barred from changing the sex listed on their birth certificate, according to LGTB rights organisation Out Leadership.

According to 2015 study cited by Mastercard, nearly one-third of individuals who have ID with a name or gender that does not match their presentation have reported negative experiences, such as being harassed, attacked and/or denied services.