BMO Harris has rolled out new features and employee training to accommodate the bank’s transgender and nonbinary customers. 

“We introduced some training around the kinds of holistic conversations to have with our customers,” said Denise Press, head of retail and small business payments at BMO Harris. “It becomes part of the natural conversation to make sure we put our customers at ease and they feel they can trust their relationship with the banker.” 

Chicago-based BMO Harris in December introduced True Name, a Mastercard feature that allows customers to use their preferred first name on bank cards, to accommodate transgender customers who identify with a name different from their birth name. The bank expanded the feature to include retail credit cards as well as small business debit and credit cards last week. With the launch, the bank had to retrain employees to ensure name change conversations were embedded into every card conversation. 

BMO Harris trained in-branch employees and managers, as well as call center associates, on card name conversations. According to the bank, this included sales and internal news items, role play activities, conversation guides and FAQs, and videos demonstrating True Name conversations. Asking customers what name they would prefer on their card is now part of every debit or credit card conversation. Press said the personnel who trained the bank employees also train for additional bank procedures beyond True Name. She added that, while the True Name feature is important for transgender and nonbinary customers, it also works for customers who prefer using a nickname, for example Mike instead of Michael.  

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BMO Harris customers can use True Name to have their preferred name on a card by visiting a branch or calling the bank. For in-branch visits, the bank offers instant card issue. Customers are not required to legally change their name to receive their preferred name on the card. BMO Harris, which has $138 billion in assets, is the first bank to implement True Name. Superbia Credit Union, an online credit union designed to benefit the LGBTQ community and aims to launch this year, has also signed on for the feature.  

According to Kimberly Sutherland, vice president of fraud and identity management strategy at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, implementing a solution like True Name across large financial institutions will take time. “[True Name] might work well on the retail banking side, but not work well on the mortgage side of the bank. That consumer is going to expect that [the bank] knows them across every department,” she previously told Bank Innovation. “This is going to be a challenge and an opportunity for businesses to break down the silos across organizations and allow them to see customers with a much more holistic perspective.” 

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