Second chance banking accounts
What you should know about second chance banking
Do you need to find a second chance banking account? Lots of Americans do.
1 in 10 Americans now don’t have a banking account. This can make modern life extremely difficult to imagine having to try and manage your finances without access to a regular transaction and savings account. They have become known as the un-banked Americans.The top 5 unbanked states are Mississippi, District of Columbia,Georgia,Kentucky and Texas.
The banks recognized this problem and many have now begun to offer what are termed second chance checking or second chance banking accounts.
If you are trying to find a second chance banking account we can help you.
Why can’t I get a regular bank account
Generally this is because you have been listed with either Early Warning Services or Chexsystems.
Who are Chexsystems and Early Warning Services
They were set up to report on fraud in the banking industry and to help combat it.They are credit reporting companies that maintain massive databases of financial transactions by over 3 million bank account customers.
Have you overdrawn your account, bounced too many checks, not repaid money owed and has this led to your bank account being closed. Then this will show up on your credit report with these companies. If it wasn’t much that you owed and you corrected the problem by repaying the sum you may be able to still access second chance banking. Second chance accounts generally come with higher fees and fewer options as the banks class you as high risk. So you may be better to look at a prepaid debit card and to look into repairing your credit history so that you can apply for regular banking in the future.
How to get removed from Chexsystem’s List
If you believe you have been wrongfully listed on the Chexsystem database you can apply to have this listing removed. It is apparently very difficult to get this done but if you want to give it a try here’s what you do.
First get your checks systems report by contacting checks systems at the following address
ChexSystems
Attn: Consumer Relations
7805 Hudson Road, Suite 100
Woodbury, MN 55125
FAX 602-659-2197
ChexSystems
Consumer Relations
1-800-428-9623
(Recording only-Instructions)
The report should provide you with a form to fill in to have the items listed investigated.
If they are not yours mail back the form and after some time for the investigation to take place they should mail you a new report with the corrected information on it.
Some people advise simply filling out the form stating that the listed items are not yours and continuing with this process until all the items have been removed from checks systems. This is fraud and we would strongly advise you do not act in this manner.
If you cannot get the items removed from your listing or if you are innocent but are getting nowhere in pursuing them to be corrected you may find the best choice for you is to look for a second chance banking account at either a local bank or credit union. Another option may be to apply for a good quality prepaid debit card.
Debit prepaid card banking account – 100% guaranteed
The ready debit prepaid card offers you one of the best alternatives at an affordable price available today.
It is FDIC insured in the same way that your local bank is and allows you to pay bills online and make direct deposits. There is only a $9.95 fee per month which compares very favorably with most second chance bank accounts available. For further information click here.
Why choose a ready debit prepaid card
No ChexSystems or Early Warning Services checks
No credit check required (ID verification required)
Online bill pay
No bounced checks
No overdraft fees
No minimum balance required
plus lots of other great benefits.
As an alternative to regular banking or just in addition to a second chance bank account the ready debit prepaid card is a great option.
Click here for 100% approval on the ready debit card now.
Local banks offering second chance banking accounts
The banks and credit unions below have been reported to offer second chance checking accounts. They have also been reported as being ChexSystems or Early Warning Services friendly.
We do not have any control over the approval processes that each bank undertakes and so cannot offer any promises that they will allow you to open a second chance banking account at any of the banks and credit unions listed.
Things to do to help your application for a second chance banking account
- Check your credit report for an up to date status. You can contact Chexsystems and Early Warning Services directly or use a credit reporting service. This may cost a few dollars but will save you lots of time waiting for reports to arrive and if your report isn’t great it will save you wasting your time applying to the bank only to be rejected.
- Remember – repeated rejections can adversely affect your credit score further increasing the time and complexity to recover your credit rating in the future. If you are not fairly sure you will be accepted consider putting off the application until your rating is improved.
- Pay off any existing debt, particularly to other banks and credit agencies, as you will almost certainly be declined a second chance account whilst you still owe other agencies.
- Watch the rates! They know you are desperate and unfortunately some banks will use this as a means to charge really high fees and seek other forms of control over you and the account.
- Weigh up the deal very carefully as sometimes the negatives of a second chance account outweigh the positives and you may wish to look at other options.
Most states will have some banks offering second chance facilities, but your local bank may not. They all generally offer online banking facilities so that you can run your second chance checking account from anywhere in the state if you have a computer and internet access. Again we must say the banks will assess many things when they decide whether to approve you or not and we cannot guarantee that you will be given a second chance banking account.
