A ChexSystems report can be a helpful tool in determining why you can’t open a bank account as a US resident. In short, if you have outstanding balances or fees with a financial institution, there’s a strong possibility that it is impacting your ability to open new accounts.
If you’re looking to secure new banking relationships and open a US bank account as a non-resident, your troubles go beyond the ChexSystems. If that’s you, please use the other free resources on our website.
In this article, we’ll share everything you need to know about ChexSystems reports, including how to clear them so you can start successfully opening accounts again.
Feel free to use the table of contents to jump ahead to the sections most relevant to you.
Table of Contents
- ChexSystems Report
- What Is ChexSystems?
- How Can You Get Your ChexSystems Report?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Ready to Open Accounts With Banks in the USA?
ChexSystems Report
A ChexSystems report is a collection of a person’s banking history, financial profile, and financial reputation. This information is used by banks and credit unions to make decisions during the onboarding and account screening process.
A ChexSystems report is essentially a credit report focused on consumer banking information. The available information focuses on negative banking records and financial records, disrupted account status, and overall account monitoring.
What Is ChexSystems?
ChexSystems is a reporting agency that collects information about bank customers and their banking activities. This can include information related to previous bank accounts held as a college student or accounts that you’ve had recently as an adult.
The primary focus of ChexSystems is to collect banking data that reflects negative behavior, unpaid fees, account closures, suspected fraud, and other negative activities related to an account.
The information collected by ChexSystems is then sold back to financial institutions, who will cross-reference the information anytime there is a new applicant looking to open accounts. That said, not all US financial institutions refer to ChexSystems during the account opening process, which means it is still possible to open accounts despite a ChexSystems tied to your profile.
How Can You Get Your ChexSystems Report?
You can get your ChexSystems report directly from the ChexSystems website. To do so, you will need to visit ChexSystems and click on “Disclosure Reports” from the main menu of the website. Next, you will need to complete the following steps.
Steps to Get Your ChexSystems Report Online
- Confirm if you had an account denied in the last sixty days
- Decide if you want to receive your report online or by mail
- Insert your legal name as it appears with financial institutions
- Confirm your date of birth
- Insert your Social Security Number (SSN)
- Verify your Social Security Number (SSN) again
- Insert the number for your secondary identification
- Confirm the state that issued your second identification
- Insert your current mailing address
- Insert any other mailing addresses you have used in the last five years
And lastly, agree to the ChexSystems terms and conditions
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Frequently Asked Questions
Below are four of the most common questions we receive from people looking into what a ChexSystems report is. If you have further questions you would like to ask our team, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
How Often Can You Get a Free Copy of Your ChexSystems Report?
You can get a free copy of your ChexSystems report every twelve months directly from ChexSystems. In other words, ChexSystems works very similarly to credit bureaus. While not everyone needs to monitor their ChexSystems annually, it is good practice for anyone who feels they may have outstanding balances or overdue fees with financial institutions.
How Do You Know If You Have a ChexSystems File?
To know if you have a ChexSystems file, you can request a copy of your report directly from ChexSystems. To request your report, you can visit the ChexSystems website or call them directly. Importantly, ChexSystems will not release your report without confirming your identity. If you do have any outstanding balances on your ChexSystems file, you will need to pay off the balances in order to clear the file.
Where Can You Open a Bank Account If You’re On ChexSystems?
If you’re listed on ChexSystems, your bank account opening options will be more limited However, there are still bank accounts available to you. In most cases, you will need to consider opening a “second-chance account” with banks that are more forgiving. These banks typically include local community banks, credit unions, and certain (though not all) online banks.
How Can I Clear My ChexSystems Report?
In order to clear your ChexSystems report, you will need to complete four steps followed by a fifth step to confirm the process worked. Step 1: Get your report from ChexSystems. You can follow the steps above to do this. Step 2: Based on this report, pay any outstanding balances. Step 3: After you pay any balance, you will need to request a “letter of removal”. This is not the last step, you now need to confirm it’s done. Step 4: You need to wait for ChexSystems to update your report. Once this is done, you can follow a final step, which is to confirm the changes have been made and that your report is now clear.
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