We here at ClockWorkAccounting believe in being financially responsible. That being said, we realize that sometimes people have bad luck, or they just plain didn’t know what they were doing in the past. If you are someone who has made mistakes with your bank account in the past and are having a hard time finding a bank to let you open a checking account, then this article on second chance checking accounts will likely be helpful for you.
Two Common Reasons You Might Need Second Chance Checking
A bad credit history. Usually people with no credit history (i.e. you’ve never had a credit card or any sort of payment that is reported to the credit monitoring companies) are still able to obtain a normal checking account as long as they are willing to deposit a certain amount of money.
However, if you’ve had credit cards and payments in the past and you mishandled those transactions, then chances are you have a low credit score. If you want to check your credit score, then some good reliable places to do so are: freecreditreport.com, annualcreditreport.com, and experian.com. Note that most of these places say they are free, but they might try to trick you into paying some money if you’re not careful.
Bottom line: Some banks will check your credit before offering you a normal bank account. If your score is low enough, then they may deny you an account.
The second common reason for people wanting second chance banking accounts is that they have a low ChexSystems score. ChexSystems is a group of financial institutions that report any mishandlings of checking accounts to a central location. This central location then offers the information to other members of the group who ask for it. Basically, these guys make a living out of being a watchdog.
For example, if in the past you wrote a check when you didn’t have sufficient funds in your account, this would be on your ChexSystems report. These reports typically carry five years of information. So five years after your non sufficient funds incident your report would be clean (assuming you didn’t have other things happen since then). There are other items that go on your ChexSystems report. You can order your own Chex Systems report by heading over to consumerdebit.com. A large amount of banks within the United States use this service to make sure they don’t get burned by customers. However there are large lists of Non ChexSystems banks available. These lists are usually outdated and aren’t worth the time you spend looking at them. Keep reading to find a better solution.
Now that you know why you might need a second chance checking account, let’s talk about how to get one. Below are some of the available options.
Note: ClockWork recommends people looking for second chance bank accounts be very cautious of other people who are simply trying to steal your information. For example, do not give out any confidential information (social security number, credit card numbers, addresses, etc.) until you have actually made contact with the person and you’ve heard from others that they are a legitimate source. We recommend going to established banks that you know who offer second chance accounts.
Newbankaccount.net: This place is not a bank. This is somebody’s personal website and he/she works with the banks to find you a second chance account. Most of the websites out there in the second chance bank account category have an affiliate link to this website. Be very careful if you land on this website because some people have reported it is a scam. The owner of the site takes your information and sends it off to 100’s of financial companies who will send you spam mail until the day you die. It looks like the owner may have cleaned up his/her act a little as they now offer an “opt-out” button from receiving spam mail. We would still strongly advise against giving them personal information like your social security number.
BBVACompass: This is an actual bank that offers second chance checking accounts. They are a member of the FDIC and an Equal housing lender. Go to http://www.bbvacompass.com/sitemap/second-chance-checking.cfm to find out more information. One problem with this bank is that they are a world bank, but they may not have one close to your area. Find out the closest location before applying here.
Wells Fargo: Another trusted bank that offers these types of accounts. Find out more information from https://www.wellsfargo.com/jump/checking/opportunity. Wells Fargo has a lot of banks around the US and this may be the best option for a lot of people.
For a safe bet why not visit some of the banks or credit unions in your area and ask them if you can open a checking account. This worst they can do is turn you down, but in the best situations they will offer second chance checking accounts and you won’t be obliterated by spammers online.
