Santander blocked trans woman’s bank account because she ‘sounded like a man’

A transgender woman was locked out of her Santander bank account for a week after a customer services representative identified her as a man.

Drew Dalziel, 25, called her bank in July and gave the correct security information. Upon hearing her voice, the adviser said her account was being blocked because she “sounded like a man”. Ms Dalziel is currently undergoing vocal training.

Campaign groups and security experts expressed surprise that banks still used a customer’s sex as part of their security checks. Subsequent calls to the bank’s complaints team proved unsuccessful, with advisers telling Ms Dalziel that the bank was “following procedures”.

Ms Dalziel informed her local Santander branch in March that she was transitioning from a male to a female and gave the bank her new deed poll papers.

Apart from altering her sex on its records, the bank appears to have made no other notes on its files. Santander then said the only way Ms Dalziel could unblock her account was to take photographic ID into her branch.

At the time of the incident, however, her passport was in the process of being replaced with one that carried her new name and sex. Ms Dalziel was forced to borrow money from her family.

After The Daily Telegraph intervened, her account was unblocked and the bank apologised. Ms Dalziel has since been told by Santander that an alert had been added to her account to notify bank employees that she is transitioning. She said: “I personally told the bank that I was transitioning and gave them my new deed poll papers, so they knew of my situation. I hope this doesn’t happen to other transgender customers.”

A spokesman for Santander said: “We apologise for the service Ms Dalziel received. We work hard to support all of our customers and realise that this time our service fell short.” It added that it had offered Ms Dalziel a “gesture of goodwill”.

A spokesman for Stonewall, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights charity, said: “We know that many trans people face multiple issues and barriers to accessing goods and services. Everyone should be treated equally and fairly.”