4 ms·

Am I the only one that detests businesses with an ideological bent? I mean…you’re starting out eliminating a subset of potential customers. I recently read on

Am I the only one that detests businesses with an ideological bent? I mean…you’re starting out eliminating a subset of potential customers. I recently read on TechCrunch about an LGBT-themed digital bank that raised a $15 million round [1]…why not just be a bank serving all types of customers, or are there specific banking features that cater to LGBT individuals? 1- https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/18/daylight-queer-neobank-raises-15m-capital-subscription-service/ https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/18/daylight-queer-neobank-rai...

Bubble_Pop_22 4y ago
They are smart instead because they analyze VCs peculiar political preferences/bias and build a company which is guranteed to raise money. It’s kinda like applying for govt grants or bidding for govt contracts. You read the document and then create a tailor made company to fit all the requirements
- globalise83 4y ago
  Good one. Probably a good crime comedy to be made out of that concept, "Acme Inc.",where they just set up a generic shell and write the business plan and pitch to investors based on some espionage and other dirty tricks.
  - willcipriano 4y ago
    Get Mel Brooks on the phone and make it a musical, "The Founders".
otikik 4y ago
They all have biases. If they aren’t explicit about them they’ll act on them without warning. You might wake up one day and find that your business is not welcome any more. This happens regularly in the porn industry, banks simply refuse to work with them. If I am woke, it’s good to know that a bank is anti-woke. Avoids surprises.
deleted 4y ago
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- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
foldr 4y ago
> or are there specific banking features that cater to LGBT individuals? This question is answered at length in the article you link to. You could also just look at the bank's website: https://www.joindaylight.com https://www.joindaylight.com I don't know whether or not there's a large demand for these features among LGBTQ folks specifically, but it's not an inherently ridiculous idea.
noahtallen 4y ago
So like, the problem is that normal banks will invest your money in causes you don’t want to support (like the fossil fuel industry). [0] So if you want your money to promote causes you care about, you need to find alternatives like this. Ideally, banks would let you choose where your money goes. But I don’t think that’s really a thing. 0: https://youtu.be/NJ7W6HFHPYs https://youtu.be/NJ7W6HFHPYs
eesmith 4y ago
Did the companies which refused to do business with apartheid South Africa have an ideological bent? Would you have detested them? What about the companies which continued to do business with apartheid South Africa? Did they have an ideological bent too? > why not just be a bank serving all types of customers If there's an under-served market then a business which focuses on that market's specific needs can be more profitable than one with multiple focuses. In the link you can see some examples: "debit cards with customers’ chosen names, which aren’t always the same as what’s on their ID", "guided goals for gender-affirming procedures like top surgery and facial feminization", and family planning which doesn't assume heteronormativity. As a different example of a bank started for an under-served population, USAA is focused on people who serve or served in the military, and their families. Quoting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAA : > USAA was founded in 1922 in San Antonio by a group of 25 U.S. Army officers as a mechanism for mutual self-insurance when they were unable to secure auto insurance because of the perception that they, as military officers, were a high-risk group.
rrix2 4y ago
> are there specific banking features that cater to LGBT individuals? not deadnaming trans customers on the cards they have to give to people who know them by their new names is really good on its own and many banks simply will not allow customers to have different "display" and legal names.
- bankaway0124 4y ago
  https://www.citigroup.com/citi/news/2020/201019a.htm https://www.citigroup.com/citi/news/2020/201019a.htm
bdcravens 4y ago
My first "real" job was at a computer store in a small college town (doing ISP tech support). A competitor sprang up that called themself "Christian Computer Store". Needless to say, they didn't last long.
- isoprophlex 4y ago
  No daemons allowed!
ebiester 4y ago
1. For trans people, it's absolutely a thing. If you need to be verified, your photo and name will often be different than government documents. Having a bank that understand this from the start is a key differentiator. Now, less than 1% of the world publicly identifies as trans or non-binary, but the numbers are increasing in younger generations and may, in an of itself, be a significant market differentiator. 2. LGBT people have a low level fear of having someone in customer service discriminate due to something with our gender presentation or other issue. While it's a smaller issue today than in the past, we all have a story about a friend who had an issue. With all else being equal; that is, if the bank itself is reliable, this is a key feature. Now, I think there is a banking play for a single corporation to have multiple white labeled experiences, but the only successful one I know about not tied to an existing bank is Nubank.
jrm4 4y ago
You aren't, but I actually like the idea generally. Capitalism is all about choice, and I'm absolutely fine using that as one of the reasons. I mean, I think the inverse is weird. I don't see what's wildly different about "I'm just not gonna go there because I don't like how the chicken tastes" which no one ever has a problem with, but suddenly people get up in arms over "I'm not gonna go there because I don't like the CEO's stance on whatever." Yay choice. (oooh update. And these may be obvious descendants of things like "green book" businesses, aka those that were safe for black folks not too long ago)
rchaud 4y ago
From what I can gather, the endgame for these businesses is not to stand on their own two feet, but to simply acquire enough customers such that an established player snaps them up. Most businesses don't want to do the hard work of chasing down licenses and permits. It seems to be all about a quick acquisition.
mcphage 4y ago
> Am I the only one that detests businesses with an ideological bent? You're not the only one, but there are definitely a lot of people who like finding businesses with a similar ideological bent. Seeing a cross or an icthhys in the corner of business signs is fairly common, for instance—and has been for a long time.
megablast 4y ago
> why not just be a bank serving all types of customers Yes, when will we finally get a bank like that. Is the 20,000 existing banks that do that not enough for you?
jfengel 4y ago
I like that Penzey's Spices has a motto "season liberally". Their Facebook account includes anti-Republican screeds which appeal to me. I also really like their products. I can say that I would not purchase their products if they had a right-wing bias equivalent to their left-wing bias. I don't patronize a number of businesses where the owners have made their right-wing bias prominent. If you consider both equally distasteful, that makes sense. I assume that the owners of all of these businesses have made at least rough calculations how much they gain in customer loyalty, how much they lose in customers put off by it, and how that number compares to being what they consider true to themselves. So I'm sure you're not the only one who detests that. But I imagine they've taken your views into account, as well as mine.

Bubble_Pop_22 4y ago

They are smart instead because they analyze VCs peculiar political preferences/bias and build a company which is guranteed to raise money. It’s kinda like applying for govt grants or bidding for govt contracts. You read the document and then create a tailor made company to fit all the requirements

globalise83 4y ago
Good one. Probably a good crime comedy to be made out of that concept, "Acme Inc.",where they just set up a generic shell and write the business plan and pitch to investors based on some espionage and other dirty tricks.
- willcipriano 4y ago
  Get Mel Brooks on the phone and make it a musical, "The Founders".

otikik 4y ago

They all have biases. If they aren’t explicit about them they’ll act on them without warning. You might wake up one day and find that your business is not welcome any more. This happens regularly in the porn industry, banks simply refuse to work with them. If I am woke, it’s good to know that a bank is anti-woke. Avoids surprises.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

foldr 4y ago

> or are there specific banking features that cater to LGBT individuals? This question is answered at length in the article you link to. You could also just look at the bank's website: https://www.joindaylight.com https://www.joindaylight.com I don't know whether or not there's a large demand for these features among LGBTQ folks specifically, but it's not an inherently ridiculous idea.

noahtallen 4y ago

So like, the problem is that normal banks will invest your money in causes you don’t want to support (like the fossil fuel industry). [0] So if you want your money to promote causes you care about, you need to find alternatives like this. Ideally, banks would let you choose where your money goes. But I don’t think that’s really a thing. 0: https://youtu.be/NJ7W6HFHPYs https://youtu.be/NJ7W6HFHPYs

eesmith 4y ago

Did the companies which refused to do business with apartheid South Africa have an ideological bent? Would you have detested them? What about the companies which continued to do business with apartheid South Africa? Did they have an ideological bent too? > why not just be a bank serving all types of customers If there's an under-served market then a business which focuses on that market's specific needs can be more profitable than one with multiple focuses. In the link you can see some examples: "debit cards with customers’ chosen names, which aren’t always the same as what’s on their ID", "guided goals for gender-affirming procedures like top surgery and facial feminization", and family planning which doesn't assume heteronormativity. As a different example of a bank started for an under-served population, USAA is focused on people who serve or served in the military, and their families. Quoting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAA : > USAA was founded in 1922 in San Antonio by a group of 25 U.S. Army officers as a mechanism for mutual self-insurance when they were unable to secure auto insurance because of the perception that they, as military officers, were a high-risk group.

rrix2 4y ago

> are there specific banking features that cater to LGBT individuals? not deadnaming trans customers on the cards they have to give to people who know them by their new names is really good on its own and many banks simply will not allow customers to have different "display" and legal names.

bankaway0124 4y ago
https://www.citigroup.com/citi/news/2020/201019a.htm https://www.citigroup.com/citi/news/2020/201019a.htm

bdcravens 4y ago

My first "real" job was at a computer store in a small college town (doing ISP tech support). A competitor sprang up that called themself "Christian Computer Store". Needless to say, they didn't last long.

isoprophlex 4y ago
No daemons allowed!

ebiester 4y ago

1. For trans people, it's absolutely a thing. If you need to be verified, your photo and name will often be different than government documents. Having a bank that understand this from the start is a key differentiator. Now, less than 1% of the world publicly identifies as trans or non-binary, but the numbers are increasing in younger generations and may, in an of itself, be a significant market differentiator. 2. LGBT people have a low level fear of having someone in customer service discriminate due to something with our gender presentation or other issue. While it's a smaller issue today than in the past, we all have a story about a friend who had an issue. With all else being equal; that is, if the bank itself is reliable, this is a key feature. Now, I think there is a banking play for a single corporation to have multiple white labeled experiences, but the only successful one I know about not tied to an existing bank is Nubank.

jrm4 4y ago

You aren't, but I actually like the idea generally. Capitalism is all about choice, and I'm absolutely fine using that as one of the reasons. I mean, I think the inverse is weird. I don't see what's wildly different about "I'm just not gonna go there because I don't like how the chicken tastes" which no one ever has a problem with, but suddenly people get up in arms over "I'm not gonna go there because I don't like the CEO's stance on whatever." Yay choice. (oooh update. And these may be obvious descendants of things like "green book" businesses, aka those that were safe for black folks not too long ago)

rchaud 4y ago

From what I can gather, the endgame for these businesses is not to stand on their own two feet, but to simply acquire enough customers such that an established player snaps them up. Most businesses don't want to do the hard work of chasing down licenses and permits. It seems to be all about a quick acquisition.

mcphage 4y ago

> Am I the only one that detests businesses with an ideological bent? You're not the only one, but there are definitely a lot of people who like finding businesses with a similar ideological bent. Seeing a cross or an icthhys in the corner of business signs is fairly common, for instance—and has been for a long time.

megablast 4y ago

> why not just be a bank serving all types of customers Yes, when will we finally get a bank like that. Is the 20,000 existing banks that do that not enough for you?

jfengel 4y ago

I like that Penzey's Spices has a motto "season liberally". Their Facebook account includes anti-Republican screeds which appeal to me. I also really like their products. I can say that I would not purchase their products if they had a right-wing bias equivalent to their left-wing bias. I don't patronize a number of businesses where the owners have made their right-wing bias prominent. If you consider both equally distasteful, that makes sense. I assume that the owners of all of these businesses have made at least rough calculations how much they gain in customer loyalty, how much they lose in customers put off by it, and how that number compares to being what they consider true to themselves. So I'm sure you're not the only one who detests that. But I imagine they've taken your views into account, as well as mine.