Bank of Montreal adopts Mastercard’s True Name feature for trans and nonbinary customers

Earlier this month, Bank of Montreal (BMO) became the first Canadian financial institution to offer Mastercard’s True Name feature on their credit cards. They are the second major bank to offer this feature after Citi got on board with it in the US last year.

Mastercard rolled out the True Name feature in 2019 as a way to uplift and validate transgender and nonbinary customers whose legal names often do not reflect their true identity. With this feature customers are able to use their preferred names on their credit cards without requiring a legal name change. The feature was designed to ensure a safe way for trans individuals to pay for goods and services with a card showing the name that corresponds to their gender expression. Often times, before a legal name change, a trans person’s gender expression does not correspond to the name printed on their credit card which can lead to uncomfortable and sometimes unsafe encounters with merchants. The True Name feature seeks to rectify that and provide a safe and secure payment option for all of Mastercard’s customers.

With BMO now offering the feature it is Mastercard’s hope that additional banks will begin to offer True Name. Currently Republic Bank only offers it on their debit cards, but that is still more than most institutions are offering now. It is expected that more banks will follow suit, it is just a matter of time.

We here at Vacationer encourage everyone to utilize this feature if it applies to you! Or, if you know someone who would be interested in this, please pass the information along. As Mastercard says “being your true self is priceless.”