As the bank strives to provide more inclusive services for non-binary and trans persons, HSBC Holdings Plc’s UK unit intends to stop collecting data on the gender of its customers across several products.
According to a corporate spokeswoman, the bank has started deleting references to gender from various products, including HSBC Kinetic, its mobile first banking business account, and its new tool for mortgages in principle. It is a part of a larger review of its offerings’ inclusion, and more modifications are being considered.
The concept of gender is evolving at a societal level, and we’re looking at how it’s relevant for our sector, Jimmy Higgins, co-chair of HSBC’s UK Pride Employee Network, said in emailed comments. There is no reason we should be capturing information for a bank account or a loan if it’s not relevant.
As the gender issue in the US and UK grows more heated, banks are taking steps to better accommodate trans identities in their products. Following Citigroup Inc.’s lead, Bank of Montreal recently started selling bank cards specifically designed for non-binary individuals.
These actions have increased tensions. Pronouns matter. #ItsAPeopleThing, tweeted British lender Halifax last month. After a social media argument, the business urged clients who were dissatisfied with the situation to leave.
According to Matt Cameron, founder and worldwide managing director of LGBT Great, an organization that collaborates with companies including Citigroup and BlackRock Inc., businesses that take a strong stance on gender identity will need to maintain their resolve when difficulties arise.
Organizations that are bold on LGBT+ inclusion will be those that build more trust, attract broader talent and appeal to a broader customer base.
The move to cease collecting gender data raises the question of how best to track other forms of discrimination. There have long been complaints that women find it harder to access credit than men, and Credit Karma said last year that women pay £16,913 ($20,318) more than men to borrow over a lifetime.
Many couples take out loans and mortgages in the male partner’s name, meaning women have less credit history, even when they work full time and contribute to the bills, said Akansha Nath, Credit Karma’s head of partnerships for UK and Canada.
At the point when a person is going to a bank and saying they need to borrow X amount, all these biases have already impacted.
HSBC has research programs in place to track the inclusiveness of its products without necessarily capturing that information from every customer. It is monitoring the situation and may adjust its approach in relevant cases.
To make things easier for transgender customers, the British lender has already streamlined its name-change procedures. The terms “husband” and “wife” have been replaced with “spouse.”
That’s no small feat in banking, where legacy systems can make accommodating changes more difficult, according to Bobbi Pickard, chief executive officer of Trans in the City, whose members include Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase & Co. When Pickard changed her name four years ago, some banks made the process easy, while others insisted on notorized deed polls.
That is gradually changing. In 2020, Citigroup and MasterCard announced a partnership that would let non-binary people use the name of their choice on credit cards. Since then, more than 26,800 people have taken advantage of this service. The first financial institution in Canada to offer the service was Bank of Montreal, which is now thinking about making it available for both Canadian and American credit cards as well as debit cards.
According to research, 90% of transgender Canadians have had to use identification with names or genders that do not correspond to how they portray themselves, and 43% have experienced verbal harassment.
Customers utilize their legal name while applying for the card, which is used to confirm their identity. After being accepted, individuals can get in touch with BMO and request a new card with their desired name.
One customer was brought to tears that BMO would have this feature, Jennifer Douglas, BMO’s head of North American retail and small business payments, said in an interview.
