NatWest allows trans woman to use ‘Ms’ instead of ‘Mr’ following PinkNews report
Following a report by PinkNews, NatWest has agreed to update a trans woman’s title on her bank account to “Ms”, rather than “Mr”.
The PinkNews reader had been told she must present a gender recognition certificate before they could change the details on her bank account.
She had been told as recently as yesterday that such a change was impossible, despite spending hours on the phone, and attending two branches in person.
The bank refused her offer to put them in contact with trans organisations, and only previously offered the the option to use an alias on her account, which she declined, as it would allow all bank staff to know she had transitioned.
However today, after informing the bank of the PinkNews article, she received a call from a member of NatWest’s Equality and Diversity team who apologised and said her title would be changed with immediate effect.
NatWest also promised to compensate her for her time fighting the earlier decision, which she said had taken more than four hours on the phone.
The bank informed her that should she wish to update the gender listed on her account, they would accept a piece of photo ID or a letter from her doctor.
The woman told PinkNews she was pleased with the result, and regretted that it took so long to achieve. She also hoped making her battle public would help trans people in future, and those facing the same situation who may not have spoken out in the past.
NatWest said in a statement: “This was a case of human error and we have contacted the customer to apologise. This should not have happened. Getting this right for customers is very important to us and we are working hard to roll out our training across the bank to ensure that this cannot happen again.
“We have agreed with the customer that we will make a donation to a charity of their choice as compensation for the inconvenience.”
