The State of Preferred Names on Credit Cards in 2021

Promo image from Mastercard’s True Name program

Two years ago Mastercard announced its ‘True Name’ program allowing cardholders to use a preferred name on their cards without a legal name change. For many trans folks, including myself, this was the first time we had heard of using a preferred name on a card. Two years later, how is the program doing?

Cards in the US

There are four major providers of credit and debit cards in the US: Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. With Visa and Mastercard you’d typically get your card through your bank. With American Express and Discover you’d get your card directly through the company. The story of preferred names for each provider is very different. Let’s walk through the state of each.

Visa

Credit: No

Debit: No*

Visa has no announced plans or initiatives that allow cardholders to use their preferred name. It’s currently not possible to use your preferred name with any Visa card.

The Asterisk * There is an upcoming LGBT-focused bank Daylight that is planning to issue a Visa card that allows cardholders to use their preferred name without a legal name change. Daylight is not yet issuing cards, but you can sign up for the waitlist on the Daylight website. Daylight appears to be officially backed by Visa through the Visa Fintech Fast Track program via Marqeta.

Discover

Credit: No

Debit: No

Discover has no announced plans or initiatives that allow cardholders to use their preferred name. It’s currently not possible to use your preferred name with any Discover card.

American Express

Credit: Yes

Debit: No

Credit

From American Express’s application form

American Express has allowed cardholders to use a preferred first name on their credit cards for a decades. It’s on the first page of any American Express application. However, your legal last name is required on the card.

Debit

American Express’s debit card offerings via Serve

While American Express is best known for credit cards, the company does provide debit cards via Serve. I contacted Serve and was told a legal name change is required to update the name on your card. It is not possible to use a preferred name on a debit card from Serve.

Mastercard

While Mastercard announced their ‘True Name’ program in 2019, it is only officially supported by 3 banks.

Citi

Credit: Yes

Debit: No

Mastercards issued by Citi

It is possible to use a preferred first name on a Citi credit card. For whatever reason, you must first apply for and receive a card in your legal name before you can receive a card with your preferred name on it.

Citi does not issue debit cards with preferred names

It is not possible to use a preferred name on a Citi debit card.

BMO Harris

Credit: Yes

Debit: Yes (IL, IN, AZ, MO, MN, KS, FL, WI)

BMO Harris issued Mastercards

You can use a preferred first name on any BMO Harris issued Mastercard. For credit cards you can call the bank to request a card in your preferred name.

To request a debit card in your preferred name you must go to a physical BMO Harris branch. BMO Harris only has branches in Illinois, Indiana, Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas, Florida, and Wisconsin.

Republic Bank

Credit: No

Debit: Yes (KY, IN, FL, TN, OH)

Mastercard issued by Republic Bank

You cannot request a credit card with your preferred name via Republic Bank.

You can request a debit card in your preferred name via Republic Bank. However, Republic Bank limits online sign ups based on location and appears to only operate in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Tennessee and Ohio.

Superbia

Credit: Yes (Not launched)

Debit: Unknown

Potential offerings of Superbia

Superbia is a company attempting to form an LGBT-focused credit union. The credit union plans to offer financial services including banking, credit and insurance. Superbia has not launched yet and appears to have missed their July 2021 launch date and the services available at launch have not been detailed. In fact, Superbia’s Member Benefits page appears to be missing from their website.

When Superbia launches it is planning to issue Mastercard cards supporting True Name. No revised launch date has been announced.

Looking Forward

Mastercard recently announced an expansion of True Name to companies that provide white-label financial services. That is, companies that build Mastercard related products for other businesses. This could lead to wider adoption of True Name.

My Story

I’m Emma K Alexandra, a 29 year old trans woman living in Washington, DC. I’ve been transitioning for nearly a decade, and I have not legally changed my name. For me and many other trans folks, a legal name change is difficult or impossible for various reasons. When I heard about Mastercard’s True Name program I was excited! It seemed like a great step for trans folks like me. However, as time went on I didn’t hear much about the program.

Recently I started looking to see if I can get a debit card with my preferred name on it. I bank at SoFi, and I really like it. The bank has all of the features I want and importantly, the debit card issued by SoFi is a Mastercard.

I looked into updating the name on my debit card with SoFi. I found no relevant support articles and when I contacted SoFi’s support line I was told SoFi requires a legal name change to update the name on my card. The support representative I spoke with was unfamiliar with Mastercard’s True Name program and told me I should try reaching out to Mastercard directly to update the card.

Calling Mastercard, my support agent was familiar with the True Name program and claimed it was available on all Mastercards. She forwarded me to Account Services and I will update this story based on my results.

I then looked into possibly changing banks. So I looked into a few options listed above, American Express, Republic Bank, BMO Harris, Citi, the LGBT focused banking and credit union unions. All of the options above are not available in my area or not yet open. BMO Harris comes closest. It looks like I may be able to open an account and get a debit card with my name on it if I drive to a physical branch in Illinois. That’s about an 11 hour drive each way. I may do it.

So far I’ve unsuccessful at attaining a debit card in my name no matter the compromises. We’ll see if things improve in the future.

Conclusion

Currently, it’s fairly unlikely you’ll be able to request a card with your preferred name. Visa and Discover simply don’t support it. American Express is a good option for credit cards. Mastercard is a mixed bag depending on if you bank with Citi and where you live.

There’s a stark divide between credit and debit cards. You’re more likely to be able to get a credit card with your preferred name on it. Debit cards with preferred names are only available through Mastercard via a few small community banks in a few states.

There’s still a long way to go for all card providers. When reaching out to banks for this article, most were not aware of any initiatives to use preferred names. This includes banks issuing Mastercards, which has had the highest profile push to use preferred names.

I hope we see progress with preferred names in financial services soon.