But discrimination can be subtle. I was reminded of this yesterday when I accidentally locked myself out of my America First Credit Union account by entering the wrong PIN number online and needed to call the credit union to get it unlocked.
I was asked numerous specific questions about myself and my account, all of which I had expected and freely answered. But my customer service agent still seemed hesitant. And after putting me on hold, returned to tell me she was now going to ask me questions unrelated to my account, taken from information that is in the “public record”. And she proceeded to ask me questions about my late ex-husband’s extended family—things like where was this one born, and where is this one living now.
I was stunned.
I told the woman questioning me that in the first place, I didn’t know the answers to her questions. That not only have I been divorced for three years, but my ex-husband has also been deceased for a year. I only ever met a few of his extended family and have kept in touch with only one - his brother.
Why would I be expected to know this information in order to prove WHO I AM?
I wanted to know why questions that were selected from public records did not relate to me personally, but only to someone to whom I was married. She could only explain, after consulting with her supervisor, that this was a service that the credit union uses and that many other banks and other types of businesses use it as well – the credit union has no control over the questions selected.
All I could do was to register my complaint that such questioning disrespects women. That we are people and customers in our own right and not just auxiliaries of our sometime-husbands (even if we are still married). I have had this same credit union account for 45 years, since I was a teenager. I was even an employee of that credit union for a number of years (they could have asked me that question). To think that after all those years, that an account in my name could only be unfrozen by my ability to answer obscure questions about someone else.
It probably isn’t the credit union’s fault. And maybe no woman ever complained before this. As I said, discrimination is subtle. But it’s still wrong. I don’t know if my complaint will reach any ears that can do anything about this particular issue. But if you’re a woman and you’ve ever been married, just know that random questions taken from public records, intended to allow you to prove you are who you say you are, may very well not be about you at all.
Equal rights for women, indeed!
