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GettyThe LGBTQ+ community experiences unique challenges in the banking world. Often, these challenges directly stem from identity-related concerns. According to a 2018 survey by Experian, 62% of LGBTQ respondents reported having experienced challenges with their personal finances because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
While the banking world might like to think it’s progressive and welcoming to the queer community, it’s the queer community that often gets sidelined when banking policies fail to not only address, but also respect, their full and authentic queer selves.
Thankfully, some disruptors in the banking world are making moves to address the queer community’s major financial pain points. These banks and services openly challenge everything from naming conventions on credit cards and debit cards to loans and financial education.
As the queer community has long relied on peers to provide them with the best advice, the upstarts below may prove that the queer community can finally begin to rely on banks to honor their identities and consider them peers in a banking relationship.
1. Be Money
Knowing that the LGBTQ+ community faced myriad challenges in the banking world, CEO and founder Rob Curtis wondered how he could change that. As a gay man and seasoned professional in the startup world, he knew first-hand how grossly underserved the queer community is—and across all sectors.
“Our community has almost $1 trillion in spending power in the U.S., and yet 53% of LGBTQ+ people struggle to maintain regular savings,” he says. “Despite that, LGBTQ+ people have a wide and diverse range of goals that they need financial help to achieve, which include surrogacies, gender transitions or even retiring in a queer-friendly beach town.”
Digital banking platform Be Money wants to help the LGBTQ+ community achieve all its financial goals. While still in the pre-customer phase, Curtis says that, in the fourth quarter of 2020, Be Money stands poised to launch a fintech company that aims to take the awkwardness out of traditional banking and transform the way that LGBTQ+ people think about their money.
Be Money is Curtis’s third LGBTQ+ startup. What he noticed is that big banks have complex systems and solutions tailored for specific audiences that can feel bolted-on, or in the case of the LGBTQ+ community, “have a rainbow sticker slapped on it.” Be Money is designed with inclusivity in mind from the get-go to fix a banking system that, as Curtis says, “wasn’t designed for us.”
“In addition to higher fees, we experience impersonal and insensitive services when we engage with existing financial services,” he says. With Be Money, LGBTQ+ customers and their allies can not only see themselves in the company’s marketing material, but they will also find a true community that’s empowering and affirming.
Be Money has an eye to launch in November 2020 with a closed beta group, with access to the public soon after that. They’ll offer mobile banking and a branded debit card and slowly introduce new capabilities to help the LGBTQ+ community fulfill all their hopes and dreams. This will include everything from financial coaching, education and peer-to-peer communications to specialty loans to help the community rely less on online fundraisers and more on a partner bank that affirms its customers’ goals.
Interested customers can visit the Be Money website and sign up to be notified when they’re ready to welcome new customers with open arms.
2. Superbia Credit Union
In late 2019, the State of Michigan approved a charter that paves the way for the first LGBTQ+ credit union in the U.S. By leveraging the membership model that’s been so successful for credit unions, Superbia seeks to create a community where LGBTQ+ members and allies alike can “come as they are” and enjoy a financial life that’s supported by a community that understands their hopes, dreams and challenges.
Per their website, Superbia’s mission is to take the discrimination out of personal finance for the LGBTQ+ community, redefining what an “acceptable relationship” with a financial institution should be.
As they work diligently behind the scenes to receive regulator approval to commence accepting members, here’s a look at what Superbia hopes to offer once their doors are open for business:
- Credit union. Fee-free services like checking and savings with NCUA-insured deposits.
- Credit cards. They’re working on preferred names instead of legal name capabilities.
- Insurance. Policies that serve their members regardless of marital status, gender identity or identity-confirming medications.
- Healthcare. Search capabilities for queer-friendly policies.
- Community reinvestment. They aim to donate 10% off revenues to the Superbia Foundation, which reinvests in the LGBTQ+ community.
Their website is a breath of fresh air on inclusive representation for the queer community, and something prospective members will undoubtedly welcome. If you’re interested in exploring Superbia, you can join their interest list on their website and get in line for membership once they go live. Once you verify your email, you can participate in their community survey to help shape their services to address your top financial priorities.
3. True Name By BMO Harris
In the trans and nonbinary communities, it’s a near-daily occurrence to have a credit card emblazoned with one name while moving through the world with another that reflects your identity. As of 2019, BMO Harris’ LGBTQ+ customers have a new option: True Name.
“Research shows that members of the transgender and nonbinary communities often experience harassment and discrimination when using their credit and debit cards because the first name on the card does not match their true identity,” says Denise Press, head of retail and small business payments, BMO Harris Bank. “True Name helps solve this, because the first name on our credit and debit cards is the name that our customers connect with and that friends and family use. When our customers go shopping, dining and go about their daily lives making purchases, the name on their card reflects who they are.”
Through a partnership with Mastercard, BMO Harris customers can request a name change on their debit or credit cards with a phone call or visit to a branch. For customers concerned about what happens should a merchant request their I.D., don’t fret. Merchants can call the number on the back of your card and BMO Harris will verify your identity.
The best part just may be that, to take advantage of True Name, you don’t have to go through a legal name change. While most banks require that customers show legal proof of a name change, True Name only requires that customers choose a name that’s not “fictitious, humorous or profane.”
Bottom Line
With identity leading the way, the above innovators are changing the way the queer community approaches their banking needs. What’s for certain is that all of the movements listed above are being led by members of the LGBTQ+ population at the helm. Inclusion begins with honest insights that innovators can bank on.