NatWest Customer Offended by Pride Flags Told to Bank Online
A NatWest customer who complained about an LGBT Pride campaign at his local branch was told to bank online – and the ombudsman agreed. The Telegraph has more.
The customer, known only as “Mr J”, went into NatWest last July and was upset by the Pride materials on display.
He claimed that the paraphernalia distressed him both because of his disabilities and religious beliefs but NatWest refused to take them down. The bank pointed out most of the services he required could have been done online.
Mr J escalated his complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in November, alleging the bank had failed to make adjustments required by the Equality Act 2010. The Act prohibits discrimination on a number of personal characteristics.
Investigators ruled in NatWest’s favour, adding the bank offered “multiple ways” for customers to carry out their banking which do not involve visiting a physical branch.
Ombudsman Danielle Padden wrote: “NatWest is a bank that has chosen to display Pride materials along with other paraphernalia at certain times of the year. As a service, we wouldn’t be able to tell them not to do that, as they are entitled to celebrate and raise awareness of the communities they serve.”
Ms Padden added: “I’m not able to decide that NatWest have acted unfairly here. They have provided alternative methods of banking and are entitled to decide what materials they display in their branches at certain times of the year.”
To challenge NatWest’s right to display Pride materials in its branches, Mr J would have to take them to court, the ombudsman said.
The FOS told Mr J that he could use ATM machines outside the branch or a Post Office nearby to avoid the paraphernalia, or that he could use telephone or online banking.
Records shared by NatWest showed that most of the activities he visited the branch to do between July and August 2024 could have been done online.
The bank said Mr J – who claimed he needed to visit the bank in-person – could appoint a third party to visit the branch while Pride materials are prominently displayed.
In the bank’s 2024 annual report, it says that it “celebrates Pride across the UK”, and was ranked number 45 in the Top 100 Employers in charity Stonewall’s UK Workplace Equality Index.
On its website, NatWest states that it aims to “continue to deliver a better LGBT+ colleague and customer experience through continuously challenging the status quo.”
Worth reading in full.
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I wonder if a Muslim had said they were offended by a Christmas or Easter display, would they have been told to bank online?
Purely hypothetical probably because a bank is unlikely to have any references to Christianity.
Nailed it.
Right, when has any bank branch ever, in recent times, displayed anything fully supporting the Christian community? I would think, never.
No wonder. Christianity teaches “thou shalt not steal”. Not a message that is very popular in banks.
Mr J escalated his complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in November, alleging the bank had failed to make adjustments required by the Equality Act 2010 … Investigators ruled in NatWest’s favour …
Because some are more equal than others.
NatWest has been a business to avoid for some time.
Are there any non-woke banks?
I would quite like to use a bank that provides me with the financial services that I need without the woke propaganda.
In fact, without any kind of propaganda.
There are way too many businesses, brands and products which have made themselves unattractive to send your money to. I feel like I’m running out of places to shop…
A bank harping on about social justice is hilarious in itself. Clearly they don’t see it.
Shafting you with pride. We are what we do. Jesus Christ.
Crikey, this is both embarrassing to the profession and shameful. Now 700+ archaeologists are speaking out to oppose the Supreme Court ruling. How on earth can you deny biological fact whilst simultaneously calling yourself a scientist? Aren’t these people supposed to deal in evidence? The mind boggles at the required mental gymnastics with these captured woketards; ”Trans people in the UK are currently facing a sustained assault by their government; an assault that threatens the ability of trans people to live in this country free from harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. This assault already undermines the ability of many archaeologists in the UK, including Council for British Archaeology (CBA), Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA), Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers (FAME), and University Archaeology UK (UAUK) members, to work, learn, and participate in public life. Following the recent Supreme Court ruling, and the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) interim update, this is only set to get worse. As signatories to this letter, some of us know what this ruling will do to the trans community first hand, and our allies know that now is the time to listen to trans people and proudly stand in solidarity. We are writing… Read more »
And just for the peeps at the back who haven’t been paying attention, once again, this is where the entire warped and toxic degeneracy came from: perverts, paedophiles and paraphilia; ”Once again for the newcomers: gender identity ideology does not come from feminism. It was not created suddenly by Judith Butler in the 90’s. It comes entirely from the convergence between sexology and psychiatry. Gender ideology was pioneered by sexologists and especially men sympathetic to pedophilia. Sex offender treatment programs spearheaded “gender-affirming care” via chemical castration for pedophiles. That chemical castration treatment is now promoted to minors as “puberty blockers”. A pedophile’s dream come true. The idea that sex itself is a social construct dates back to the 1960s, and was promoted by John Money, who encouraged the use of pornography – even among children – to develop one’s gender identity. John Money forced children to act out “copulation play” and photographed them, and advocated for sexual relationships between adult men and children. Gender identity ideology is the philosophy of porn and BDSM. It is quite literally the belief that sexual roles determine one’s sex, and it normalizes dangerous sexual pathologies by turning them into a protected “identity”. https://x.com/WomenReadWomen/status/1921608315437789350 “If… Read more »
Trans just means eunuch or castrato ie being unable to produce children. There is nothing more to it than that. Surely it isn’t difficult to see how this would form part of their agenda given they they want most of us dead.
Its not like lesbian and gay people will suddenly go extinct if we just leave them alone.
Mr J should take his business elsewhere, there are other banks available.
I don’t like the way Nat West displays it’s woke bullshittery and would switch banks if I felt as strongly as Mr J.
The picture in the article shows a street view with all the Pride “paraphernalia” on public display and not avoidable by those going about their business.
Perhaps offended people should do all their shopping online and stay in. Barclays evidently have the right to place this stuff in your face in the street.
Online shopping at tesco last year was also displaying the pride flag . So you cant get away from it .I went to lidl.
A severely disabled friend of mine was contacted by Waitrose to ask his opinion of their service. He told them that he objected to their obsession with the “alphabet people”. On his next on-line order Waitrose refused to deliver to him because of his transphobic attitude. He now gets deliveries from Sainsburys.
I fell out with Waitrose years ago, when they started telling people online shopping how much of some things they are allowed to buy.
Time to move bank.