The Payments Association calls for more LGBTQIA+ diversity in payments

Editorial

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community.

The 2025 Diversity and Inclusion Survey found that 73% of leading companies in the payments sector record gender data during recruitment, but only 14% collect data on sexual orientation, and 27% on gender identity.

Despite the low number of organisations that gather information on sexual orientation, 100% of companies that do actively evaluate it. Only 11% of payments firms reportedly focus on diversity in sexual orientation in the workplace.

However, the report did find that majority (65%) of payments organisations maintained their DEI policies this year.

Riccardo Tordera, director of policy for The Payments Association, stated: “PridePay’s visible commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community through its Pride in London sponsorship is a commendable step and we hope it inspires more payments firms to tailor products to ensure different communities can feel better included. As the payments industry evolves, it has a responsibility to go beyond innovation and address systemic inequities. Financial inclusion must be more than a metric—it must reflect meaningful access for historically marginalized communities, including the LGBTQIA+ population. Without intentional design and inclusive infrastructure, progress will remain uneven and exclusion will persist.”

This data is especially relevant given that June was Pride month, and London Pride will be taking place on Saturday, 5 July.

Payments platform Cardaq has launched PridePay, a LGBTQIA+ app that will sponsor the celebrations this year. There will be ‘Tap for Change’ payments stations scattered across Soho and Piccadilly where people can donate to LGBTQIA+ causes sponsored by the app.

Hugo Remi, CEO of Cardaq, commented: “Despite the fact that we live in the 21st century, it feels like it’s in the Middle Ages sometimes. Right now, LGBTQIA+ people are not recognised, abused, bullied and more. A lot of us need to hide our identity, to claim to be who we are not, only because we’re are afraid to say it out loud, as we can lose parents, friends, and families. PridePay was born in order to change the way of how the society think and help LGBTQIA+ people.”