Why? Because hard-times arise especially in your Teens & 20's....and you may overdraft several hundreds of dollars as a loan and you may not get a chance to pay back the over-drafted money before your account(s) get closed. People tend to overdraft from a couple of banks and put the over-drafted money into a new bank before ChexSystem flags them. Now, once you overdraft from your last checking account (the one you stored the overdraft money from your other accounts) you are limited to receiving paychecks by prepaid debit card as it is very rare that you can get a paper check from an employer now in days (usually, government benefits have the option to come in the mail). And without a paper check you can not go to the liquor store to cash your check nor go to the cash checking spot to cash your check. (Granted you have to pay a fee at the check cashing spot and purchase a minimum at the liquor store)
However, lots of prepaid debit cards charge a monthly fee even if you direct deposit over $500 per month and most prepaid debit cards charge a cash loading fee. Plus, there are deposit limits on prepaid debit cards per month. Therefore, one needs to get back to a banking account as soon as possible and I have listed/described the best two options for second chance banking as follows:
- No fees.
- No ChexSystem.
- Free ATM access at more locations than a traditional bank.
- Unable to overdraft.
- Check writing requires some effort as you must contact simple and have them mail a check to someone .
- Can't deposit cash outside of obtaining a money order.
TD Bank ( https://www.tdbank.com/ )
I had overdrawn accounts from other banks that I let close and TD Bank welcomed me with open arms. I had even overdrawn account(s) from TD Bank and they still let me open up another account be it a month after close-two years after close depending on the amount I had over-drafted and depending on the number of accounts I had over-drafted. They will simply transfer the overdrawn money from a future account to pay your old TD debt. The best thing about dealing with a traditional bank is that you can easily deposit cash, in TD's case they are open 7 days per week, you can get in-person assistance, the ability to overdraft accounts, no fees if you keep at least $100 in a checking account, and they can handle your other financial needs as well.
