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Non ChexSystems Bank

jennyjackson | Oct 6, 2010 |

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For some people, opening a bank account is a big deal. Indeed, for some people, opening a bank account is pretty much impossible. The reason is because of ChexSystems, a network of major financial institutions that share banking information about clients. Information about the bad clients is then accessible to each and every financial organization associated with ChexSystems. And these days, that means a lot.

ChexSystems was initially set up to protect banks from people who might commit bank fraud or continually make bad financial choices that involve a bank. However, many innocent people like you and me get caught in the system with no easy way out.

For example, have you ever cashed a bad check? People who cash bad checks may find their names added to the ChexSystems records. Or maybe you have dipped into overdraft on a bank account and failed to repay the overdraft for a few months? This might qualify your name to be added to ChexSystems. Certainly, if you've ever had a bank account closed down by the bank, your name will be on the list.

And once your name is on this list, it's very hard to open a bank account anywhere. Fortunately there are a few things you can do if this happens to you.

One of the most popular ways to get around ChexSystems is to find a bank that does not use chexsystems. These are called non chexsystems banks. Mostly, these type of banks are smaller banks or credit unions. Most of the major banks consult ChexSystems before allowing people to create savings or checking accounts.

Another option is to look at getting a prepaid visa card. These are partial credit cards that work wherever your credit card is accepted, but before you can use them, you must add money to the card. Think of them like a bank card linked to an online account.

You can always just open an internet bank account; most of these don't require any sort of ChexSystems credit check. But you have to pay more in transaction fees than you might with a normal bank account. these online non chexsystems banks are a good way to get a checking account if all else fails, however.

The last option is to challenge ChexSystems directly. This means you can try and dispute your ChexSystems record entry. Quite a few people report that they have done so successfully, but it can take you a few months to process the disputes and you may even end up going to small claims court. There are some tutorial online on how to do this.