What Is ChexSystems, Inc.?Many consumers engaged in credit repair find themselves in ChexSystems, a consumer-reporting agency that provides deposit account verification services to banks. Many people are unaware of this agency until they find they are unable to open a new checking account at a financial institution. This company is governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and other laws enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. Sometimes people move and simply forget to close a checking account, an automatic debit or withdrawal hits the account and the consumer is unaware of the problem until they attempt to open a new checking account with another bank and find they are blacklisted. Your banking history, such as dates and amounts of any bounced checks, check-printing records, open and closing dates of previous bank accounts, and inquiries from other banks where you attempted to open new accounts are in your banking file along with your driver's license information to help financial institutions verify your identity when you attempt to open new accounts. Many banks have a policy of not opening checking accounts for anyone with one or more incidents reported to ChexSystems, so getting an incident reported to this agency means a difficult financial future. Each incident stays on your record for five years from the date it was reported unless the bank or credit union that reported it requests its removal or it becomes necessary to remove it under applicable law. To keep your account inquiries to a minimum, do not try to open a lot of checking or savings accounts at different banks in a short period of time. Inquiries look like you might be an unstable customer. Do not bounce checks. If you are denied a bank account and you don't have a questionable banking history, you might be the victim of identity theft. Check your banking report for any suspicious activity. You can order a copy of your report by contacting: ChexSystems, Inc., 7805 Hudson Road, Suite 100, Woodbury, MN 55125. Their phone number is 800-428-9623 and their fax number is 602-659-2197. They have a consumer relations department that handles disputes from consumers who believe their file contains misinformation. You can request a free copy of your report at www.consumerdebit.com . Dispute any errors in writing. You are also entitled to add a brief consumer statement to your file describing your dispute of information contained in your banking file. ChexSystems was started by Deluxe Corporation, the world's largest blank check printer. When you order blank checks from Deluxe or one of their subsidiaries, your information is sent to ChexSystems and their collection agency and direct marketing partners. This information includes your current address, account number and more. When you order blank checks from Deluxe, Current Checks, Checks Unlimited, or Designer Checks, they transmit your personal information to their sister companies: ChexSystems, Debit Bureau, EFunds and SCAN. Also know that any information you provide on bank applications is given to these companies. Opening a new bank account can be very difficult if you are reported and many people find they have to simply live on cash and
debit cards
for the five year period affected unless they can find a rare non-ChexSystems bank or successfully dispute and remove the negative information from their ChexSystem file.
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