How to Start If You’ve Never Known About an Account with a Bank
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How to Start If You’ve Never Known About A Bank Account
by Spencer Tierney Senior Writer | Certificates of Deposit ethics, ethical banking, bank deposit accounts Spencer Tierney is a consumer banker at NerdWallet. He has covered the personal financial sector since, with a particular focus on deposit certificates and other topics related to banking. His work has been covered in The Washington Post, USA Today, The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times, among other publications. The location of his work is Berkeley, California.
Aug 11, 2020
Editor: Carolyn Kimball Assisting Editor – Banking Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News Carolyn has been employed in newsrooms across the across the country as a reporter as well as an editor. Her passions encompass personal finance, Sci-Fi books and groovy Broadway musicals.
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The management of your money without a bank account is doable. But it can pose challenges – and the COVID-19 epidemic has only added more.
The economic impact payment may have come in a few weeks or months later than other ones and was in the form of a check or prepaid debit card since you weren’t able to choose the speedier delivery option of direct transfer into an account at a bank. And if you’ve gone to the shop recently, you may have been asked to pay by debit or credit card or in exact change because of a nationwide shortage of coins and concerns about the transmission of germs.
A bank account can be a boon when faced with these kinds of situations, as well as others. To avoid problems in the future you should consider opening a bank accountor revisiting when you’ve had a rejection in the past. Here’s how to get going.
Review your financial needs
If you’re one of the 14 million people with no bank account in the U.S., you might have a solution that works for you. Maybe that includes making use of alternative products like prepaid debit cards and Check cashing companies. Financial counselor Brandy Baxter has worked with clients who utilized check cashing services to meet practical reasons.
“They preferred to walk into the store, and leave with cash in hand,” says Baxter, an accredited financial advisor and financial coach, who runs the company Living Abundantly in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.
Check cashing stores like Check ‘n Go and ACE Cash Express may operate longer hours than banks, and offer easy approval procedures to receive cash fast. But they do charge high fees, which could range between 1% and 6 percent, or even more than the amount of your check.
Bank accounts can fulfill the needs of money beyond what pre-paid cards or check cashing services are able to. For instance, their anti-fraud protections can limit what you pay if you’re targeted, and a lot of accounts allow you to lock your debit cards remotely if they are stolen.
And once you’ve begun working with a bank, other possibilities are open for you to consider: Credit cards and small business loans and other less expensive alternatives to payday loans may eventually be in your reach.
Checking accounts “don’t just help you save costs, they’re also the foundation for using various financial instruments,” says David Rothstein director of Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, who manages BankOn the national platform which helps to increase financial inclusion.
Find a bank that will work for your needs.
If you find banks to be intimidating or you’ve had difficulty obtaining an account previously the community banks or credit unions tend to be more accommodating than national banks and are usually mission-driven — for example, focusing on the financial health of their neighboring communities.
“We’re very lenient at giving people a second chance,” says Pedro Murillo the area branch manager for the San Francisco Bay Area for Self-Help Federal Credit Union. “If an employee wants to request an loan but doesn’t have pay stubs, is there anything they (can they) provide us? Perhaps a letter sent by (their) company? We’re not going to give up.”
Similar to other credit unions, Self-Help requires that a member open a savings account to be a member. The minimum required to start an account is typically only a few dollars. Members can then apply for other products such as a credit building loan.
You can search online for the term “CDFI” — that stands for the community-based financial institution -which is a reference to . Many require those who join to be part of the same area or state in which the credit union or bank has branches.
What do you need to learn about applying
To open an account, you’ll usually require your Social Security number, one or two identification documents and the money to make your first deposit.
It is common to open two bank accounts at the same time one checking and the other a savings account. The checking account grants access to a debit card and bill payment system as well as other services. The savings account lets you put money aside , and in the best case it will grow through making interest.
Banks usually screen applicants on ChexSystems which is a national reporting agency that keeps records of accounts closed against a person’s will. If you’ve lost access to a bank account in the past and you’re not sure if you’ll be denied by different banks until you have settled your ChexSystems file. This could include paying off debt to banks or disputing the errors on the record.
After you’ve cleared your account, think about what banks often call an approved BankOn checking account. A lot of them don’t charge overdraft charges that kick in when you attempt to make a payment that could put your account in negative.
The process of opening a bank account requires some effort. However, once you’re approved having a safe place for your money as well as a greater chance to get low-cost loans can make it worthwhile.
“To have a checking account… can be the foundation of any financial empowerment effort,” Rothstein says.
This article was written by NerdWallet and first printed through The Associated Press.
The author’s bio: Spencer Tierney is an expert in the field of certificates of deposit at NerdWallet. He has had his work featured in USA Today and the Los Angeles Times.
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