‘I don’t need you to add a rainbow to your social media’: Daylight’s #CallMeByMyName campaign targets the American Bankers Association
- The #CallMeByMyName campaign champions for the inclusion of trans and non-binary consumers within financial services.
- The campaign seeks major financial institutions to redress outdated and exclusionary services and codes of conduct.
LGBTQ digital bank Daylight just announced a campaign calling upon the American Bankers Association to change industry practices that mistreat and alienate transgender and non-binary consumers.
In partnership with LGBTQ rights non-profit All Out and the National Center for Transgender Equality, the #CallMeByMyName campaign asks for ABA member financial institutions to redirect a portion of their Pride marketing budgets toward acknowledging and evaluating how their services currently exclude trans and non-binary customers.
“Our community has become cynical of large financial institutions with considerable resources remembering us once a year during Pride month,” said Daylight’s co-founder Billie Simmons. “We’re calling upon financial institutions to think differently in 2021. I don’t need you to add a rainbow to your social media or bombard me with ads, I need you to #CallMeByMyName.”
The campaign seeks for renewed industry standards that recognize trans or non binary people by their real names. These include removing obstacles around updating names and gender identities free of charge and without permission from a doctor, judge or notary.
It also calls for the recognition of true gender identity and real names for trans and non-binary customers across each service touchpoint such as customer communications, customer contact centers, statements and credit and debit cards.
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“A third of transgender people have experienced violence or threats of violence when using a bank card with a name that does not match their presentation. This is a matter of safety and at its core, it’s a matter of basic human dignity,” said Simmons.
“I shouldn’t have to go through the tens of hours, hundreds of dollars, out myself as trans multiple times all for a half baked solution that may give me a bank card with my chosen name, but still sends mail to my house addressed to my deadname -- the name I used before I transitioned. This is also a deeply emotional and horrible experience, one that reminds me that the financial system will always see me as who I was before I transitioned.”
The campaign asks financial institutions to publish a public action plan by December 31, 2021 with an assigned executive sponsor coupled with an annual progress report.
“What we’re calling for in this campaign is a relatively simple fix for something that causes danger, embarrassment, unnecessary cost and considerable inconvenience for thousands of trans and non binary Americans. Making these changes is long overdue,” said Matt Beard, All Out’s executive director.
Daylight launched in December of 2020 as the first LGBTQ digital bank in the U.S. Daylight’s trans and non-binary customers have access to a Daylight debit card in their chosen name, even when it is different from their legal name. The challenger bank also provides financial planning tools to support users to save up for gender transitions.
“Saving for a transition is one of the most emotional and complex parts of being a trans or non-binary person. Not only is it incredibly expensive—in some cases, costing as much as $100,000—but no two transitions are the same, meaning that it can be hard for some people to get started,” said Daylight co-founder and CEO Rob Curtis. “The simple act of affirming someone’s chosen name, no questions asked, is a great first step to helping people become their real selves.”