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Comment by gruez | Hacker News Reader

>When Asher DiGiuseppe tried to make a purchase at his local Toronto liquor store, the clerk looked at him with suspicion and questioned his card, which was still printed with the name he had used before transitioning.

>[...] New research by Mastercard across 16 countries in North America and Europe revealed that 59% of people who identity as nonbinary say they feel unsafe while shopping, and 57% say they think it’s important that companies and organizations address them in a way that respects their identity.

Is this a serious issue? I don't think anyone ever checked the name on my credit card. Even when I was carded at a liquor store, they'd only check my government id, not the credit card itself. Also for online payments I don't think the "cardholder name" field is even checked, so you can put whatever you want. Therefore I'm not sure what the point of this is, other than trying to score some PR points.

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Yes, it’s a serious issue.

Eons ago when I first started to transition I was prevented from making a purchase once because my card didn’t match my female me.

The clerk then seemingly took delight in increasing the volume of their voice when informing me.

The irony being that at work one our cute “pretty plastic people” girls used the male bosses CC all the time.

Should it matter? No, but until people evolve into human beings and leave their bigoted transphobic selves behind, anything like this can, and will, be used as a tool to embarrass and harass transgender people.

> at work one our cute “pretty plastic people” girls

What does this mean?

Thank you for sharing, that sounds really shitty

I’ve been checked many many times. If not it would be very easy to commit fraud

But this would just mean the name on the card does NOT match the name on the ID. How does this help with the issue of fraud at all?

I can't speak for wherever you are.

But in most countries they don't require ID in order to make a credit card purchase.

That’s an issue that can be dealt with by calling the card issuer.

How is that supposed to work? The toll free number on the back of my card just goes to some customer support line with 30+ minute wait times. There's absolutely no chance that a cashier is going through that for a typical transaction. Also, the whole point of this program is to make this less awkward for transgender people. Being deadnamed might be bad, but at least it's straightforward. The cardholder name matches the one on your government id, and the picture in the government id matches your face, done. I'm not sure how having mismatched names and having to call the bank is more pleasant.

Not being able to call your card issuer is a reason to change issuer. I would put 30+ minutes wait time in this category, although I know someone who is a seasoned hand when it comes to getting through tasks during phone waiting times.

It would be nice if card issuers avoided deadnaming, but there could be an innocent explanation for why a card was issued with the wrong name.

This has to be a USA thing right? In the 15 years i have had debit/credit cards in the EU nobody has ever checked the name on it. In fact, since the rise of contactless all the card info is now on the backside and not on front as before. Not to mention the fact that quite a few people today pay by phone contactless.

In South Africa, I tap to pay practically everywhere and no one ever looks at my phone (or prior to my getting Apple Pay, my physical card). In the last 12 months I had to insert my card for chip and PIN maybe twice.

Speaking of chip and PIN, before tap to pay became prominent, people actually never touched my card, I would insert it myself (reducing risk of fraud) enter my PIN and all the merchant cared about was whether the the machine said “approved” or “declined” after doing an online check.

Are we talking everyday purchases (eg. buying groceries), or high risk transactions like buying $1000 worth of prepaid cards?

how do they do it for contactless?

> Is this a serious issue?

A bigoted store clerk might decide to apply different standards to trans people, to find a way to kick them out of the store. So yeah, my experience is similar to yours, but I don’t doubt that credit card names could be weaponized against trans people.

True, but does having another name on the credit card actually address this genuine problem?

(I think people should be able to use their chosen name on their credit card; I think that adds comfort to their regular interactions and daily life; I just don’t think it will act as an Uno Reverse card against someone prone to bigotry against them.)

Yes. Some of us like to imagine trans* people as those drag like personas, a clownish caricatures of their genders. This isn't the case though: most are just, you know, people. You wouldn't know they are trans*, except for their name. And unlike that Johnny Cash song, being a boy named Sue doesn't build character. It just makes your life miserable.

A very popular POS used by many order-at-counter restaurants and cafes has an option, configured by the merchant, not the customer (!), to use the name on the credit card as the name called when the order is ready.

It’s definitely just for PR points.

In Toronto liquor stores, the point of sale payment terminal is on a stand, facing the customer, and you tap or use chip + pin yourself.

If you get asked, you to have to show your government ID.

I've never had the name on my credit card checked since no one has ever handled my credit card outside of me.

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