Transgender Day of Visibility: HSBC rolls out gender-neutral titles for customers

HSBC will recognise 10 new gender-neutral titles for UK customers who do not wished to be identified as male or female. Other banks are expected to follow their lead embracing gender diversity.

Service users who do not identify as simply male or female will be able to choose from a range of titles including "Ind", "M", "Mx", "Mre" and "Misc".

The bank has also trained staff throughout their 625 UK branches to enable them to respond appropriately to the needs of transgender and genderqueer customers, according to the Financial Times (paywall).

Head of retail at HSBC UK Stuart Haire said: "We want everyone to be able to access simple and smart banking solutions that work for them, and we will continue working with our LGBT+ colleagues and customers to ensure we're getting it right."

HSBC says that it will also be "simplifying" the administrative steps existing customers need to take if they are transitioning from one gender to another.

This is not the first UK bank to address the needs of the transgender community. Two years ago Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) introduced the "Mx" title for non-binary customers. An RBS source told the Financial Times that the bank would be extending the number of titles.

Global head of inclusion at RBS Marjorie Strachan said: "It's about training staff, front-end customer experience and services . . . banks need to do their best to offer a great customer experience."