Why is it Important to Stay Off the ChexSystems List?
It is estimated that between 80-90% of all U.S. banks use information from ChexSystems to make decisions about whether to open new accounts for their customers. If you are on ChexSystems list, and have a record of bad banking behavior, you will have a very difficult time finding a good bank that will allow you to open an account with them.
Having a bank account is almost essential in today’s society. Most people take having a bank account for granted. Those of us who have ended up on ChexSystems’ list don’t take them for granted anymore—the expense and frustration of having to rely on Check Cashing stores and Money Orders can get old quickly! Here’s an example of how expensive it is if you don’t have a bank account — you can see that people without bank accounts spend almost four times as much each month, just for the privilege of paying bills and cashing their paycheck:
The graph shows that some banks can have fees that are up to 6 times less expensive than using a check casher. If you are on the ChexSystems list, you probably pay (on average!) at least $60 each month just to cash your paycheck and pay your bills (and the chart is based on someone cashing a $400 paycheck at a check casher each week – if you cash larger checks, you pay more… sometimes much more). I don’t know about you, but that adds up to more money than I can afford to waste.
Also, remember that if you end up on ChexSystems list, you stay there for 5-7 years. Do the math. That’s thousands of dollars wasted on check cashing and money order fees. Do yourself a favor and stay off the ChexSystems list. And if you are on the list, at least consider opening a prepaid debit card account (such as the fantastic AccountNow Prepaid Visa card account) — your wallet will thank you.
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