How to Obtain a Non ChexSystems Bank
Account Without Being Scammed
Copyright © 2008 Alexis Dawes
Predatory lending exists in the mortgage industry. It's typically when a
mortgage broker adds on unnecessary fee's to a bad credit application,
because he or she knows that the applicant is in a desperate situation.
Predatory banking can also exist for those who have ended up in the
ChexSystems.
ChexSystems is a network of financial institutions (mainly banks) that
regularly contribute information about account holders that mishandle
their checking or savings accounts. Nearly all banks within the US are a
part of this consortium.
Bounce a check, and not pay it off in a timely manner, and you could end
up in the ChexSystems. Even if you receive a bogus check, and the bank
suspects foul play, you could land in the ChexSystems hot seat.
And the sentence for this financial-felony isn't light.
If the bank that put you in the ChexSystems refuses to release your name
from the ChexSystems database, you'll find it close to impossible to
obtain a bank account of any sort for 5 years.
Even if you pay off the offending debt, the bank could still hold you a
ChexSystems prisoner. Wicked, but 100% true.
So naturally when you have a situation where people are stuck between a
rock and a hard place, the vultures come out to feed. This is what you
may encounter if you're looking for a non ChexSystems bank account.
Before you pay money to any service that claims to give you a non
ChexSystems bank account be sure it passes the following tests with
flying colors.
Make sure the bank is FDIC insured.
According to the FDIC web site:
"The FDIC – short for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – is an
independent agency of the United States government. The FDIC protects
you against the loss of your deposits if an FDIC - insured bank or
savings association fails. FDIC insurance is backed by the full faith
and credit of the United States government."
In a nutshell, if you decide to open a bank account with an institution
that isn't FDIC insured, you could basically lose all of your money if
that institution goes out of business. So it's extremely important to
verify the banks status before you open an account.
You can easily verify that a bank is FDIC insured at the FDIC web site.
If it's a credit union, make sure it's NCUSIF insured.
NCUSIF insurance is similar to FDIC insurance, except it's for credit
unions.
Credit Unions
According to the National Credit Union Association web site:
"The shares in your credit union are insured by the National Credit
Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), an arm of NCUA. Established by
Congress in 1970 to insure member share accounts at federally insured
credit unions, the NCUSIF is managed by NCUA under the direction of the
three-person NCUA Board. Your share insurance is similar to the deposit
insurance protection offered by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC)."
All credit unions that are NCUSIF insured can be found at (http://www.ncua.gov/indexdata.html).
Make sure the institution has a physical branch.
This is one of the easiest ways to weed out the bad seeds. Banks with
physical branches are always legitimate financial institutions.
Do some background work on the bank.
Do a WHOIS search to view the registrant for the banks domain name. If
it's a single person, that should raise a red flag. It should always be
the banks name or corporate name.
Look on the banks web site. There should be separate telephone and fax
numbers, and a legitimate street address - not a PO box.
You can always call 411 to confirm that the telephone number matches the
address listed. But also keep in mind that some banks have a central
location where they answer general calls.
Make sure the bank DOESN'T require you to use direct deposit in order to
open the account.
Checkless Checking Account
There are some financial services that offer
checkless checking accounts. (This isn't a scam as far as I can
tell.)
But what if you don't get direct deposit? Or what happens if you switch
jobs, and no longer receive your checks through direct deposit? Then
you're basically back at square one.
And what if you want to use checks? I mean a checkless checking account
kind of defeats the purpose of obtaining a checking account at all.
Make sure the institution doesn't charge you for common items like
monthly statements, telephone services, and withdrawals.
I recently noticed a financial service charging outrageous fee's for
options that are normally provided for free through regular banks and
credit unions.
They were charging for everything but the kitchen sink, including: a fee
to check your balance at the ATM, a fee to receive a monthly statement,
a fee if you wanted to return something you purchased from a retail
store, a fee for using their automated telephone service. And that was
just the tip of the iceberg!
Even though you're in the ChexSystems doesn't mean you should play
victim to financially draining ploys like these. There are always better
alternatives waiting in the wings.
Alexis Dawes is the author of "How To Get a Bank Account Even If
You're in the ChexSystem." This report offers information on non
chexsystems banks that will give you a checking account, even if you're
in the Chexsystems. Alexis has personally used all of the recommended
banks. You can get more information at
GetCheckingNow.com.
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