A bank credit check can feel like a financial institution is completely holding your life in the balance while they make a decision, and you’re just waiting in purgatory. Banks are going to do a credit check, because they need to know if it’s safe to do business with you, or if it’s even smart of them to do so.
But bad credit doesn’t inherently mean someone can’t be trusted; it normally points to times being hard, or a hard lesson was learned, but that number follows you around. Yes, banks do a credit check to have you open a checking account, and it’s important that you know all the facts behind it.
What is the ChexSystems Report?
ChexSystems is a credit reporting agency specifically designed to deal with your past banking activity. It’s an agency that maintains information about your credit, but primarily, information about your previous bank accounts, savings and checking, overdrafts, and basically everything that you could imagine.
This is horrifying for many people. After all, who hasn’t had a bounced check from time to time, or another issue that gets in the way of their bank account history from being absolutely perfect? It happens, but the ChexSystems report turns you into data and a number, and that can be difficult.
Think of your ChexSystems report as a rap sheet for all your banking activity. That’s a lot of information, especially if you have years and years of previous banking information to dig through. The terrible thing is, just like any other service that gathers data on you, there’s often misinformation or completely inaccurate information on these reports.
Thankfully, you can dispute this by contacting ChexSystems. As a matter of fact, in the next section, we’re going to encourage you to find out if you’re on that list, and tell you what you can do about it.
How Can You Check to See if You Are in ChexSystems?
If you are on the ChexSystems list, as many people are (for both good and bad reasons), you can request to view the information that they have on file about you. After all, it is your information; you have a right to know. This is what you can do.
- Call ChexSystems: You can simply call them at 1 (800) 428-9623. Now, whether or not that is going to do anything immediately is up for debate. As you can imagine, there’s war stories all over the internet about it taking ages to get in touch with someone over the phone. We’ve all been there. However, this is the most reliable method, and a way to get direct answers and access to your information and data that ChexSystems has on you.
- ChexSystems Consumer Assistance: This link right here will take you to the ChexSystems Consumer Assistance portal, where you can request access to a report that they have on you, and whether or not that report was used to make a decision regarding your eligibility to apply for a bank account. This is a direct report that has the information that banks were given about you, so if you want to know exactly what they were told and how it impacted the decision-making process, you can request this report.
- Fax: Many don’t use a fax machine anymore, but it’s still a direct way to contact them and a listed option on their website. Fax them at 602.659.2197 with your formal and official request to access your information that they have on you. You can visit many FedEx locations to send a fax for under $2.00 in most cases if you don’t have a fax machine handy (as many of us don’t).
- Direct Mail: Certainly your slowest option on this list, but if all else fails or you just don’t have the time to find a fax machine or stay on the line for however long it takes to get in touch with someone, this is an option. This gives you the chance to outline everything that you want from them, including access to your report. You may also use direct mail to file a dispute or claim about the information they have on file.
Oftentimes, ChexSystems will have stale data because credit companies and collection agencies will not contact them once a debt has been settled. So even though you worked hard to settle or pay off your debt and it’s no longer on your radar, it could still be shown to potential banks that are waiting to either accept or decline your request to open an account with them. Check your ChexSystems report, and clean it up, because they’re not going to do it on their own without your input (most of the time).
Can You Open a Bank Account Without a Credit Check?
Yes, you absolutely can. It’s not as easy and your resources are limited, but there are options available to you that allow you to get away with avoiding a credit or ChexSystems report, so you can begin to enjoy using a debit card and having direct access to a checking and routing number for direct deposit. It’s as close to a standard bank account as you’re going to get, but without the perks of a brick-and-mortar bank.
There are some services, such as GoBank, that allow you to open one of these accounts without either of those checks. There are downsides, of course, but these services tend to have a lot of in-network ATMs to help you pull cash out of your account without having to spend an arm and a leg in processing and terminal fees.
Your options are surely limited, but you’re not completely barred from having some form of a checking account. You’re not alone: there are hundreds of thousands of US citizens who cannot open a traditional checking account with a bank right now, which is why services like these exist. Just be careful to watch for ATM fees from providers, balance maintenance fees, and basically all the pitfalls you could expect from a regular bank.
Source: crediful.com