Citi is joining Mastercard’s True Name initiative, the company said this morning, making it the first major bank to let trans and nonbinary people use their preferred first names on their bank-issued credit cards.
The announcement indicates that this change is effective immediately, so any customer interested in having a new credit card issued may now request a one now. No legal name change is required to make the switch.
“At Citi, we are passionate about helping to ensure our customers feel recognized, accepted, and empowered to be their true selves,” Citi CMO Carla Hassan said in a written statement. “We strongly believe that our customers should have the opportunity to be called by the name that represents who they really are.”
Mastercard launched its True Name initiative in June 2019, explaining that trans and nonbinary people are misrepresented as they shop and pay for services by credit cards that use what the community calls deadnames. The credit card company cited a study by the National Center for Transgender Equality that found that 32% of people whose IDs list incorrect names or genders have faced such issues as harassment and denial of services.
Citi has an estimated 200 million customer accounts and does business in 160-plus countries and jurisdictions, according to the bank.
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