If you spend any amount of time on this blog you’ll notice that I mention ChexSystems a lot (often wrongly referred to as check systems or chex systems), especially when talking about new bank account bonus promotions. In today’s post we’re going to be looking at what ChexSystems actually is and other important information.
Contents
What Is ChexSystems?
ChexSystems is national consumer credit reporting agency (CRA’s, similar to Equifax, Experian & TransUnion) that is comprised of the majority of credit unions and banks (up to 80% of financial institutions are members). It is owned by Fidelity National Information Services. They share information through ChexSystems about saving & checking accounts (deposit accounts).
Unlike other CRAs ChexSystems only contains negative information (they do contain some neutral information such as new account inquiries). When you apply for a new bank account your information will be run through ChexSystems. If a consumer has a single negative item on their ChexSystems report they’ll likely be denied for a new bank account.
Negative items include but are not limited to:
- Unsatisfied balances
- Check overdrafts
- Depositing fraudulent checks
- Suspicious account behavior reported by other banks (e.g possible structuring)
Negative items last for a period of five years, before falling off ChexSystems.
Obtaining Your ChexSystems Report
Because ChexSystems is legally considered a consumer credit reporting agency, they are required to give consumers access to their credit report for free under FACTA once every twelve months. Obtaining your report is easy and can be done online, by post or by phone. They’ll send you out your report within 5 business days of receiving your request.
By Phone
Call 1800-428-9623
By Mail
Print and complete this order form. Then send it to the following address:
Chex Systems, Inc.
Attn: Consumer Relations
7805 Hudson Road, Suite 100
Woodbury, MN 55125
Online
Click here to start the online process.
Tactics To Avoid Having Negative Items On Your Report
- Always balance your check book
- Avoid going into overdraft
- Never close a bank account with a negative balance
- If you’re struggling to balance your check book or are going into overdraft, contact your bank directly and make an effort to correct your mistakes
Clearing Negative Items
If you have a negative item on your ChexSystems report, it is possible to get it removed. There are two different options depending on whether the negative item is valid or invalid.
- If the negative item is invalid, incomplete or incorrect you can dispute the item with ChexSystems to have it removed. They have 30 days to correct the information.
- If the negative item is valid your best bet is to contact the financial institution that reported the negative item in the first place. In most cases places will be willing to remove the negative item if you pay back all money that is owed including fees, the only time that this really isn’t the case is when fraud is involved. If the bank/credit union agrees to remove the negative item if funds are repaid make sure you get this in writing, that way if they don’t follow through with the removal you have documentation stating they would. It’s important to note that they have no obligation to remove the item if you pay the money owing, they must mark it as paid though.
To dispute information with Chex you must complete this form and then fax it to or send it to the following mailing address:
Chex Systems, Inc.
7805 Hudson Road, Suite 100
Woodbury, MN 55125
You can now dispute online as well.
F.A.Q’s
Can I still open a bank account if I have a negative item on my ChexSystems report?
You can, but it’ll be much more difficult. Some banks that use ChexSystems will approve you if the offence is minor (e.g an overdrawn account) and some banks don’t use ChexSystems at all. Instead they might require you to take a short checking course (usually half a day) that teaches you how to balance a check book. Alternatively they’ll charge higher fees.
In the coming weeks we’ll be adding a list of banks & credit unions that do not run your ChexSystems report.
What happens if I open too many bank accounts?
Almost every time you open a new banking account, your information will be run through ChexSystems. Other banks can see these inquiries and most of them have an automatic fraud level. If you have over this fraud level of new accounts opened within the time frame (usually twelve months) you’ll be denied for a new account.
The number of new accounts opened varies from bank to bank (or credit union) and is an internal algorithm, rather than something in built to ChexSystems. Financial institutions do this because when somebody’s identity is stolen one thing that is often done by the thieves is bank account openings to write bad checks, overdraw the account or engage in check kiting.
Obviously the more new deposit account openings you have, the more likely you are to be denied due to too many new accounts. This also happens with traditional credit reports and too many new inquiries (e.g credit card issuers will deny you if you’ve applied for too much new credit recently – although this is usually done due to risk prevention rather than fraud prevention).
In general you won’t run into any issues with 6-8 bank inquiries in a year and shouldn’t have any issues until you have 12+ inquiries in a single year. But some banks are more inquiry sensitive than others, just like credit card issuers. We’re trying to build a list of financial institutions that are inquiry sensitive, you can help us by commenting below. Include the number of new accounts you’ve opened in the last twelve months and the financial institution that denied you, please only include this information if you have no negative items on your report.
You can view what banks/or credit unions are inquiry sensitive on this page.
Got Another Question?
Feel free to ask below in the comments, alternatively ask the nice folks over at creditboards on their dedicated sub forum for ChexSystems.
Account opening inquiries stay on your report for a period of three years.
I have been doing bank bonuses since 2022. So I am fairly new. I have never been declined by a bank based on a Chex Inquiry except with Banner Bank. I got my Chex report today. There are no negatives (ie. unsatisfied balances, check overdrafts, depositing fraudulent checks, or suspicious account behavior). However, of course I have multiple bank inquiries under “Inquiries Viewed by Others.” My questions are:
1. Yes, you can dispute, which does not necessarily guarantee success. For one application, a bank should only inquire your Chex report once, so you have a very good reason to ask them to remove other inquiries. Some banks may pull your Chex report even before you click Submit, so it is possible a bank may pull your Chex report multiple times if you play with the application form too far ahead multiple times but only submit it in your last attempt.
2. No, different financial institutions have different approval criteria and different levels of sensitivity to your Chex inquiries. Feel free to continue to chase other banks, just be aware that some Chex-sensitive banks may decline your application which is completely normal.
Thanks for the response!
I think I just figured out why I may get “Identity Can’t be Verified” on some applications. I was looking over my Chex Report and noticed on the “Social Security Number Validation” that it shows my ‘SS# Became available for ISSUANCE in 19XX in My State of Birth’, which doesn’t match my birthdate. I was born 10 years earlier. I am guessing my parents must have gotten the card issued when I was a child and not when I was born. So maybe this date difference is causing Identity problems.
Ostrich Rider That’s normal. Back in the day, people didn’t need an SSN to claim the child on their taxes. My number was issued when I was about 10 y/o, which if I had to take a guess, was probably when my parents set up a savings account.
Other random SSN trivia… The first three digits are the area number. The next two digits are the group number. The final four digits are the serial number. So, you can tell what area someone was from when they got their card issued.
https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v45n11/v45n11p29.pdf
I am surprised you have not seen this before on the knowledge-based questions banks/CUs throw up to verify identity, as I get that one all the time. But now that I think about it, P2 does not.
Per Wikipedia… Before 1986, people often did not obtain a Social Security number until the age of about 14,[7] since the numbers were used for income tracking purposes, and those under that age seldom had substantial income.
Also, I had my P2 have a run-in with an “Identity Verification” denial and I believe it locked out my P2’s Transunion website access. Weird.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-bank-account-bonuses/#comment-1804029
how to get notifications for each chex pull? I have created account and to my knowledge I have enabled text notifications. But I never get them!
The Chex portal doesn’t send out notifications. crazypaving
You want OnAlert. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/you-can-now-receive-your-chexsystems-report-online/#comment-1786315
I just signed up and got the essential version for a year. So, does Onalert just email me any time there’s a new chex inquiry?
Also, the comment with the link said “until 12/31/23”. But if this version is the right one, it’s still active.
Yes, you get an email about new bank activity.
New Bank Account Inquiry Alert
Gadget,
An attempt has been made to open a new bank account in your name. This alert is to inform you that a financial institution accessed your ChexSystems consumer report information in order to open a new checking or savings account.
Change: New Bank Account Inquiry
Company: SAN FRANCISCO FIRE CREDIT UNION
Inquiry Date: January 31, 2024
What should I do now?
If you recognize this activity, you do not need to take any action. If you do not recognize this activity, please log in for more information.
If you signed up, apparently it’s not expired.
They must have forgot to end it lol. Sweet thanks Gadget, this should come in handy.
Unless something happened when I pulled my report, it looks like they updated the chex reports. Each inquiry just has the company’s name and not your info (dl, email, etc).
I see the same thing. It shrunk my report by 3 pages. The email address was never populated on the individual inquiries, so I guess this fixes that. vc
Same w the email. Now my inqs only span 7 pages. 😳
How long does it take to unfreeze your chex report? Is it near-instant, or should you wait a day or two before applying for an account that pulls chex?
Near instant, IF you have online access to your Chex. I waited less than 5 minutes before and it worked. I have never tried from the external website, just the portal. You won’t get the letter until the next day saying it’s been thawed, but it took place immediately. Jay
Thank you!
Do you typically leave Chex frozen like TU/EX/EQ, then unfreeze all 4 to apply for a bank? Can you apply with Chex frozen and the credit bureaus unfrozen and still get approved?
I would not recommend leaving your Chex frozen for a long amount of time. A few people, including me, were unable to access our Chex accounts online for several days. If that were to happen to you, you could miss out on a time-sensitive offer.
No, I choose to NOT leave Chex frozen on the regular. I freeze Chex when I am trying to avoid a Chex pull. I also don’t leave my credit reports frozen. If someone tries to an account under my name, I will know about it in days, if not hours with the 18 monitoring services I have.
2nd question, yes, sometimes, but it’s somewhat rare. Recent DP’s for getting away with frozen Chex (from a bank that normally pulls Chex) only works at a limited number of Banks…
Citi, Amex, works, but might be existing CC holders only?
Seen a DP for Fifth Third (in-branch) and Jovia CU. They both normally pull Chex.
Saw a DP on NASA FCU, but they didn’t pull Chex for anyone.
SecurityPlus FCU, I was able to open an additional account without a Chex inquiry by freezing it. Other people were asked to thaw, so may have been the reviewers choice, an oversight, or just because my initial application was very recent. The initial application was a Chex pull though.
Citizens & M&T, I tried to avoid the Chex hit online, and ending up thawing to get approved, and resubmitted application same day after thawing Chex. I’m not sure about in branch or if existing CC holder would bypass an inquiry if Chex was frozen though. I’d like a DP on Truist for this too.
One of the codes listed in my Chex score report was “GD INSUFFICIENT DDA INQUIRY ACTIVITY SAME FI.” Does anyone know what that means? Could it mean a lack of activity on some of my accounts?
Perhaps it means that most of the inquiries in the consumer report are not from the same financial institution. My consumer report lists inquiries from 18 banks, 4 of which have 2 inquiries, the rest have 1 each.
Yes, that’s likely what it means. But, I wouldn’t sweat it. Getting multiple inquiries of the same FI isn’t going to magically fix the reason you were denied by xxxx bank or score is less than 900. Those codes on the score report are just excuses. Yawgoog
Got denied when trying to open Citi checking account. I was so shocked – my first denial, called the phone number listed in promo email – a lady on the phone recommended to clear cookies, try another browser. I tried 2 more times, from Firefox after cleared cookies and then from Chrome on the phone with the same result. Went to ChexSystems and requested report – I only had 2 entries (in May and November) under “Inquiries viewed by others” in addition to 3 Citi generated ones today because of my trying to apply 3 times. What would you recommend as next steps? Calling them? Trying physical branch?
What did the denial message or email say? Are your credit reports EQ EX TU frozen? They may do a soft pull of credit.
Calling is likely useless, unless you want to apply over the phone. You can apply in branch… Might make a difference.
The 3 Citi Chex inquires will merge into 1 after a couple of days.
Message said: “… we weren’t able to approve your checking application. More info will be sent in 7-10 business days…” None of my credit reports are frozen.
I’d wait for the letter. Citi uses EWS too. If there is any bad news there, they can see it.
Can I get EWS report online? Do you know?
Not really. They make you submit a PDF form via their portal.. And takes like two weeks to get the download link. Big pain in the butt.
A lady I called was saying something about changing my email or phone number and re-applying. I told her it’s not possible as the system identifies that I have credit cards with Citi and forces you to sign in. At no point am I asked email or phone number. You know what she recommended? Changing email and phone number on all my credit cards! What kind of insane help is that?
LoL. Next they would freeze your credit cards if you go around changing all your contact info.
I wasn’t able to proceed with opening Citigold online recently (have Citi CCs). I ended up going in branch and they had to get backoffice override to open my account. Took until the next day and I had to come back into the branch to refill out the application.
I think mine was more run of the mill KYC related info verification though where proof of ID / address in person was sufficient to convince the back office to make overrides on behalf of the personal banker.
Disputed 3 hits by Ally over the last couple years that I did not initiate. Ally called me a couple weeks later to enquire if I had identity fraud issues and I assured the rep it was not fraud related from everything I saw, I told her the accounts were opened long before the dates of the Ally inquiries and I thought Ally made a mistake. About a week later Chex mailed me the inquiries were removed.
I just pulled my Chex report online and noticed that my last 2 inquiries were on the bottom (right above the “Inquiries Viewed Only By You” section”). It’s possible that this has occurred before but not from what I remember.
I’m mentioning this so you all can look out for this when you next check your report. Otherwise, you might think that you have less inquiries than you actually do.
Is it possible to obtain chex report again in the year?
I had created a chex account and generated the report in september and was recently denied for Blupeak. When I try to generate it again , it gives me a reference number but no report is generated. No email or explaination as to why the report wasnt generated either
I was able to generate the score report just not the detailed report
I have tried a few times over the last 3 days but its the same every time. Do I need to call them?
Grrrr… got moderated.
Technically, you can request Chex annually, or within 60 days of a denial. Chex doesn’t know if you got denied or not, so as long you had activity, it wouldn’t matter. And, based on some comments, it doesn’t even matter if you say yes or no to the recent denial question.
I would recommend just registering for Chexsystems site access. It was a game changer for me, being about to see the entries in near-real-time. Just hit the Register button on the main page. Once you have access, you can go to the Dispute tab and see all the Chex report information, without even submitting the report. If gaining Chex site access doesn’t work, yeah, I would give them a call.
Other things you could try are clearing the browser cache and/or using a different browser, but honestly, I recall it having zero positive impact. I used to have a lot of issues like that as you describe, and if you keep resubmitting the request, you will hit the limit and then you have to wait two+ weeks to even try again, or have the report mailed.
Thanks. It seems they were backlogged. I was got an email today that the report got generated (4 days after requesting )
Great tip on going directly to the dispute tab , but it gives me this error and brings me out back to the main page “We are unable to process your Dispute. Please contact ChexSystems at 800.428.9623 for assistance with this request”
CG,
I just pulled my Chex report online with no issue. I answered “No” to being denied as it’s been just longer than 60 days since Bethpage denied me for Chex in September.
This is less than 2 weeks after I successfully pulled my Chex report online by answering “Yes”.
Not sure why some people have such a bad time with Chex access.
While in the Chex site today… submitted a full Chex report and score report for P1 & P2. P2 in the lead with a 644, and 601 for P1. It’s been a busy month.
The first report was instant, and the others were within a minute or two via email notification. Mildly annoying to have to log out and in again for P1… I don’t think P2 had to. But, way better than 4 days.
Just for fun, had P2 apply for an account today, get a Chex inquiry, and then run a score report. Now she is exactly 601 as well. Same as me…