Woman shocked by banker's 'sexist' insistence that she take her husband's name

A British woman was shocked by a bank worker’s insistence that she take her husband’s last name after marriage, calling her attitude sexist and archaic.

Following her Sept. 1 wedding to Matthew Smith, 41, Gem Winterburn-Smith, 28, was not allowed to change the last name on her bank account.

“When I said I was changing my name and had a copy of my marriage certificate as proof, I was told they couldn’t accept that,” Winterburn-Smith said of her visit to NatWest, a bank in her native England, on Sept. 13.

“The young woman I spoke to said, ‘You’re supposed to take your husband’s name,’ and when I replied that I was choosing to hyphenate instead, she said, ‘That’s not the done thing.’ I told her it was quite a sexist view and that I’d like her to check with the manager.”

The bank told her that they would not accept her marriage certificate, passport, or driver’s license as proof and that she would need to change her name by deed poll, a legal document used in the U.K. However, her marriage certificate had been accepted when she updated her name on her passport and driver’s license earlier.

“It was like banging my head against a brick wall,” Winterburn-Smith said. “I can’t quite believe they would be so inconsiderate.”

The newlywed claims that more than $2,500 worth of wedding gift checks are “worthless” now, as guests wrote them using her hyphenated name.

“I can’t believe the bank’s stance on this. It seems like such an archaic and sexist view,” Winterburn-Smith said. “My name ‘Winterburn’ is special to me. It’s a name I share with my mom, who brought me up on her own until I was 9, and I want to keep that connection. They just couldn’t understand.”

Winterburn-Smith plans to close her account, in spite of being a customer since she was 16 years old. The bank has since apologized for the incident, after initially reiterating that she needed to provide a deed poll record. The institution has now said the worker should have accepted her marriage certificate and changed Winterburn-Smith’s account name.

“We will be speaking to the customer at her convenience to apologize for the incorrect information and poor service she has received,” a bank spokesperson said.

“We have already provided feedback to the local area director, who will speak to the member of staff who Mrs. Winterburn-Smith originally spoke to and ensure that they are aware of the correct procedures and that their comments were inappropriate.”

The bank has updated internal guidelines to avoid this situation in the future.

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