An Introduction To ChexSystems, Inc

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.

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.

 
    William Charles
  • On May 28, 2014, 11:13

View Comments (215)

  • I keep seeing people mentioning that they have a freeze on their Chex account or that they plan on unfreezing their Chex account before opening a new bank account. Is Chex freezing a tactic that churners are using to somehow hide that they're opening so many bank accounts or something?

    • Primarily at some of the Early Warning Services (EWS) banks, you may be able to avoid a Chex inquiry by having Chex frozen. However, the vast majority of banks use Chex, and will not allow you to bypass the Chex inquiry though.

      Checking accounts at Citi, Fifth Third, American Express, & Etrade are all examples where Chex can be frozen and it avoids the inquiry.

      Some EWS banks are selective on when they pull Chex... so a Chex freeze is not always a blocked Chex inquiry. Examples are Laurel Road & Citizens.

      M&T & BMO Bank are EWS banks that will not skip the Chex inquiry IME.

      First Florida Credit Union was an odd-ball in the block the Chex inquiry group, but now apparently they are enforcing the Chex inquiry.

      • Thank you so much.

        "Some EWS banks are selective on when they pull Chex… so a Chex freeze is not always a blocked Chex inquiry. Examples are Laurel Road & Citizens."

        How would they get around a Chex freeze?

        • It's not that they (Citizens & Laurel Road) "get around" the Chex freeze. Those two banks selectively pull Chex, so a freeze might not be needed to block the inquiry. YMMV if they allow you to open the account with Chex frozen.

          Also, I should have mentioned, Citi & Amex, I was a current CC holder, which may have allowed them to "soft pull" Chex when opening a checking account since I was considered an existing customer. Fifth Third & Etrade, we were not CC holders yet had no problem opening the account with Chex frozen.

          U.S. Bank, another EWS Bank, is (selectively?) pulling Chex now. At least one DP has said that if trying with Chex frozen, they were able to get the account opened, but I think they said it was not instantly approved. I forget if they were current CC holders. Personally, I have until Jan 2026 to be eligible again there myself. @guest_2039903

  • I checked my report and only a handful of the banks that I have opened are even showing up. I am trying to decide when to close my accounts (most are 4-5 months old). If they are not showing up in my consumer disclosure, does that mean I am in the clear to close the account? Thanks!

    • Banks not being listed on Chex just means they used other means to verify you and your banking history. The largest banks typically use Early Warning Services, for example. @guest_2034796

      Not being listed on Chex has nothing to do with closing rules or possible fees, although it's very rare to have that happen anyway. Look on the bonus promo terms for reward forfeiture terms and fee schedule for early acct. termination fee. If not sure, ask the bank if there is any fee to close.

      • Thank you for the reply! I am mainly just concerned about keeping my Chex healthy. I see a lot of people recommend closing ASAP so they’re eligible for another bonus sooner rather than later, and I see others recommend waiting 6 months or so. Do you mind if I ask what you’d recommend?

        • Chex doesn't get any notification/impact from closing an account on good terms. I answered a similar question about when to close an account here.

          Banks have varying degrees of what they consider "healthy", and the most sensitive banks won't approve someone with just a few Chex inquires per year. Not much you can do about it and move on to the next.

    • Probably a temp issue. Working for me fine now. @guest_2011606

  • I pulled my ChexSystems report today and noticed the inquiry from a credit union I was denied a checking account for.

    Is says:
    Inquiry Date: 06/19/2024 Public record information on file at Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions was utilized for this inquiry. Should you wish to request your file disclosure from Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions you may contact them at: LexisNexis Risk Solutions Consumer Center

    I'm confused by this, did LexisNexis had this information already and then Chex just pulled it from there? Did I get double inquiries?

    • It's normal. The entries like that started a few months ago. It was already happening in the past behind the scenes that Chex banks use LexisNexis or Transunion to verify ID... now they just say on the Chex report which one was used. @guest_1995699

  • Hi everyone!

    Just wanted to post my comment here also in case the other page (reference page section) is less visible traffic-wise, and my question doesn't get seen there:

    Did Chex make changes to their system in 2025 or recently last year? When requesting a Chex report through the online portal, it no longer is generated immediately online for the consumer’s convenience? I thought maybe within a half hour I’ll get some correspondence email or portal update saying it’s ready to be viewed but still nothing. I’m almost positive this was instant or near instant in the past. I tried both options of selecting “yes” and “no” when the system asks you if the reason for the request is due to being denied a bank account within the past 60 days to see if this changed the processing speed. However, it didn’t seem to matter as both requests haven’t generated anything still many hours later. If someone knows more details about their recent experiences generating a Chex report, please let me know! For reference, I submitted two requests today (01/07/2025).

    • Just FYI, I'd assume this issue has been fixed. I am getting Chex Score & Full Disclosure Reports within seconds. They changed the displayed information slightly and the reports actually say what type of report they are now in the Correspondence Center. @guest_1981109

    • I requested my chex report and it was immediately available and was taken directly to that page. However, when I requested score it said it will be available soon and when I navigated to the main page it was already available.

    • I submitted a Chex report just now and got it in seconds, within the same window. Score report is taking it's time though, so it's possible there is something going on with the system. Probably be there in the morning.

      I seem to recall people having these issues before and it ends up clearing up in a few days? Guess we will see.

      I like to use the dispute tab, and that way you can get the info you want and not in PDF format. @guest_1981109 Doesn't help with score though.

      • The good news is that I got both reports (email update about correspondence with report inside on portal) early this afternoon. So, from the time of submitting the requests to getting both reports generated (at the same time so it seems "yes" or "no" option doesn't seem to make a difference processing speed-wise), it was less than 24 hours total since I did it in the evening yesterday. Still while 24 hours max is still pretty good, I'm not sure why it isn't instantaneous or nearly instantaneous like how it is for other users.

      • Thanks for letting me know! Yeah, I submitted it for the disclosure report so I can keep track of inquiries for the new year. Didn't get it in seconds though for neither option of selecting "yes" or "no" about the account being denied question. Also selecting the dispute tab on the right-hand side of the menu bar just gives an error message box stating that they're unable to process my dispute and it has a clear background too so I can't see any report details that I know exist like address, etc. Hopefully it's not a browser issue since I used Microsoft Edge and it's not like I have pop-ups blocked. Hopefully, it generates in the morning. Good to know about the score report timeline, though I hardly ever had a need for that feature.

  • How many new accounts is too many? How low can I let my Chex score go before I should stop?

    I've opened 12 checking accounts in the last 3 months after not opening one previously in years. , I've seen my Chex score drop at least 100 points from ~620 to ~520 since I began tracking it,

    I started with the goal of collecting a single $500 bonus from Key Bank, and this has turned into a mini hobby / obsession over the last month. I'll be sad when I have to stop.

    • You never really have to fully stop. You may have to slow down for some banks. Some banks don't care about your inquiries are or your Chex report.

      "Too many" is when you can no longer keep up with the admin of doing it all.

  • I see lots of people mentioned Chex and CBs frozen before jump a new bank bonus.
    
    Maybe this is a stupid question, but I do not know what is the benefit to setup the Chex and CBs frozen?
    I think most credit card company will NOT approve the new card application if the CBs frozen, am I right?
    I know lots of banks will do Chex check when you apply for a new deposit account. How many percentage of banks will approve your new deposit account application if the Chex frozen?
    By the way, I only applied 3-5 credit card and 3-5 bank accounts in last 2 years.
    But I did apply 10-20 new bank accounts and credit cards in a single 12 months period several years ago.
    Thank you very much for your comments!

  • Any chance that disputing duplicate Chex inquiries (for same application) will harm relationship with that financial institution? Wondering if I should wait to dispute a duplicate until after I receive the bonus @guest_531913 @guest_1700717

    • I would wait. After Chex forwards your dispute request to the bank, someone at the bank will take a look at your records and accounts (if the bank intends to respond). There is the possibility a human may not interpret the situation correctly and they may mistakenly associate it with fraud, leading to unintended consequences. @guest_1933894

    • I only had it happen once where I had any pushback from a bank/credit union for disputing an inquiry. It was with Midland States Bank. They locked my account for disputing a duplicate Chex inquiry 2 years ago, but was easily fixable by calling. They assumed my dispute was my way of claiming fraud. I still got the bonus. To be fair, they are known for locking accounts... there were several DP's with that bank, not related to Chex disputes.

      So, just in case, might be best to wait until after the bonus posts, but I think it's pretty rare to have any issues. I have disputed numerous others and never noticed any other negative actions. @guest_1933894

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