Forge copy reaches account holders of every age, ability, background, and financial situation, through hundreds of institutions. The goal isn't to avoid offense; it's to make sure nobody has to translate before they can act.

Principles

• Write to the person, not the category. Describe what someone is doing or needs, not who you assume they are.
• Don't assume the reader's situation. Household, income, family, employer, device, and comfort with money vary more than any persona suggests.
• Choose plain over clever. Idioms, culture references, and jokes don't survive translation, screen readers, or a stressful moment.
• Say the specific thing. Vague softening ("some users may experience issues") hides who's affected and what to do.

People

Do	Don't
you, your account, account holders	users, customers (in product UI), members (unless the institution is a credit union)
people, everyone, anyone	guys, folks, ladies and gentlemen
primary account holder, joint owner	husband, wife, head of household
parent or guardian	mom, dad
the person who shares this account	spouse, partner (unless they've told us)

Use members for credit unions and customers for banks only where the institution's own vocabulary is configured. Where copy is shared across both, use you or account holders.

Ability

Do	Don't
Select, choose, open	Click, tap, see, view (as the only verb)
Enter your code	Type your code
A screen reader reads this label	Blind users hear this label
Turn on larger text	For visually impaired users

Write the action, not the sense or the body part that performs it. "Select" works with a mouse, a finger, a keyboard, and a switch. "Click here" fails all but one.

Don't name a condition to explain a feature. Larger text is for anyone who wants larger text.

Money and circumstance

Do	Don't
Your balance is below zero	You're overdrawn again
Payment didn't go through	Payment failed / declined
Add money to cover this	Insufficient funds
Past due · Set up a payment plan	Delinquent, defaulted
Your account is locked. Unlock it from Cards.	Your account has been frozen for your protection

Money copy reaches people on their worst day. State what happened and what to do next, without characterizing the person. "Insufficient funds" is a bank's phrase; "add money to cover this" is a person's.

Locked and frozen aren't synonyms. A lock is a security step the person can undo; a freeze is a legal or compliance hold. When it's a freeze, use the required wording and say what to do next. Some notices are required by regulation to use specific terms; see Errors and validation.

Age and experience

Do	Don't
New to online banking? Start here	For seniors / for beginners
If you've done this before, skip ahead	Advanced users can...
Set a reminder	For those who forget

Segment by task, never by age.

Words that carry history

Replace these everywhere, including code comments and internal docs, so they don't leak into product copy.

Do	Don't
allowlist / blocklist	whitelist / blacklist
primary / replica	master / slave
placeholder, sample	dummy
quick check	sanity check
stalled, no-op	crippled, lame
default	native (for a setting)

Mental health and violence

The other category that leaks from engineering and casual speech into product copy.

Do	Don't
unexpected, unusual, a large swing	crazy, insane, nuts
stop, cancel	kill, abort, terminate (in UI)
thorough, careful	OCD, anal
limit, restriction, gap	blackout (for a period), blind spot

Idioms and culture

Do	Don't
Almost done	Home stretch
Something went wrong	Houston, we have a problem
Try again in a few minutes	Hang tight
This can't be undone	Point of no return

If a phrase needs the reader to know a sport, a movie, or an American idiom, cut it.

Pronouns

Use you and your for the reader, and we for whoever is speaking: the institution in account-holder products, Jack Henry in the back office. For a third person whose pronouns aren't known (a payee, a joint owner, a contact) use they, or rewrite to use their name or role.