Mastercard is widening the reach of its True Name program via a white-label approach, as more issuers express interest in the service that allows transgender and nonbinary customers to use their preferred name on payment cards.
Global Payments will make True Name available to issuers using its TSYS processing platform, and BM Technologies will also roll out True Name to users of its white-label digital banking platform, Mastercard announced Wednesday.
The moves come about 18 months after Mastercard introduced True Name. The card network's research found that about a third of the time when the legal name on a person's card doesn’t match the cardholder’s appearance, they face negative experiences.
“People have been harassed, declined service and sometimes even attacked when the card the merchant sees doesn’t match the person’s presentation,” said Cheryl Guerin, Mastercard’s executive vice president of marketing and communications for North America.
“Through these white-label partners we’re getting a one-to-many approach that can really create some scale,” Guerin said.
Consumer awareness is driving more issuers to inquire about True Name, according to Guerin.
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Card networks also do not require merchants to check card customers’ ID, but some do, and this practice has created tensions for transgender and nonbinary people, Guerin said.
In fact, the U.K. digital bank Monzo has enabled customers to use any name they prefer on payment cards and within the app since 2016. But Monzo also is now formally adopting True Name's marketing program to reach transgender and nonbinary folks, Guerin said.
Mastercard created no new technology for True Name, but instead established a marketing program for issuers that would streamline the process for asking customers for their preferred name, with special attention paid to the needs of transgender and nonbinary customers, Guerin said.
“We’ve worked with issuers to help them to update their systems so customers will be greeted by their preferred name when interacting with customer service reps,” she said.
Mastercard also supplies marketing materials for issuers to use on their website to explain how True Name works.
“Part of inclusivity is thinking about how you go to market, and making sure people are treated with dignity and given the assurance of safety for transgender and nonbinary customers using their preferred name to pay,” Guerin said.
Although Mastercard didn’t disclose which issuers on the TSYS platform plan to adopt True Name, interest is high, according to Guerin.
“We are excited to partner with Mastercard’s initiative of fostering a more inclusive and diverse community by providing our issuers and their cardholders the opportunity to participate in the True Name program,” Gaylon Jowers, senior executive vice president at Global Payments and president of TSYS Issuer Solutions, said in a press release.
BM Technologies, which provides a white-label mobile money app to consumers through corporate partners, also expects strong interest in True Name from its partners.
“Diversity and inclusion are fundamental components of our company and we hope our banking experience makes all of our customers feel empowered both individually and financially,” said
Guerin predicts True Name will become ubiquitous with the expansion through white-label providers.
“Just about everyone has pride in getting their first credit card, and if you have the right name on it, that doesn’t cause fear and anxiety, you’re going to be that much happier with it,” Guerin said.
