Whether it’s financial illiteracy, discriminatory practices, or a combination of the two, there has long been a divide in equitable banking for the LGBTQ+ community—and Daylight is looking to bridge the gap.
In developing Daylight—which is launching in partnership with Visa as part of the company’s Fintech Fast Track program, which gives tech-driven finance startups access to its global payment network—cofounder and CEO Rob Curtis says that he and his team spoke with more than 1,000 people in the community to answer the top-line question, “What does an LGBT+ bank need to do?”
According to the Family Equality Council, 63% of LGBTQ millennials are considering becoming parents for the first time or expanding their family. However, the exorbitant cost of IVF cycles and adoption can be prohibitive hurdles for same-sex couples.
Another common pain point for LGBTQ+ people: buying a home. According to a 2019 study, same-sex borrowers were 73% more likely to be denied a mortgage. The study also found that if same-sex couples were approved for a home loan, they received it at a higher interest rate, netting banks between USD 8.6 million and USD 86 million in additional interest and fees annually.
One significant pain point for the trans community in particular is the complications around using a person’s dead name, i.e., the name they were assigned at birth. Major banks have rolled out initiatives that allow customers to use their preferred name on their cards, but as Daylight’s cofounder and chief of staff Billie Simmons can attest to personally, that’s not always enough.
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