How to Get Started If You’ve Never Known About an Account with a Bank
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How to Begin If You’ve Never Known About a Bank Account
By Spencer Tierney Senior Writer | Certificates of deposit ethics, ethical banking, bank deposits Spencer Tierney is a consumer banking writer at NerdWallet. He has written about finances for individuals since the year 2013, with a particular emphasis on deposit certificates and other banking-related topics. His work has been featured by The Washington Post, USA Today, The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times, among others. He is located in Berkeley, California.
Aug 11, 2020
Written by Carolyn Kimball Assigning Editor – Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News Carolyn has been employed in newsrooms across the nation as a reporter and editor. Her passions are personal finances, science-fiction novels and ridiculous Broadway musicals.
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Managing your money without having a bank account is possible. However, it isn’t without challenges — and the COVID-19 pandemic has only added more.
Your economic impact payment might’ve come in a few weeks or months later than the other one and was in the form of an e-check or prepaid debit card since you weren’t able to choose the quicker delivery option of direct transfer into a bank account. And if you’ve gone to the store lately, you may be asked to pay using a credit or debit card or in exact change because of the widespread shortage of coins and worries over germ transmission.
A bank account will make life easier in these scenarios, and other things. To avoid future issues, consider opening one — or try again after being rejected in the past. Here’s a step-by-step guide for getting to the point of starting.
Assess your money needs
If you’re one of the 14 million adults who don’t have a bank account in the U.S., you might have a system that works for you. Perhaps that means using alternative products such as prepaid debit cards and checking cashing service. Financial advisor Brandy Baxter has worked with clients who utilized check cashing services for practical reasons.
“They preferred to walk into their homes, then leave with cash in hand,” says Baxter, an accredited financial counselor and financial coach, who runs the firm Living Abundantly in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Check cashing shops such as Check ‘n’ Go or ACE Cash Express may operate extended hours than bank and have simple approval processes to receive cash fast. However, they charge an expensive fee that can range from 1% to 6 percent, or even more, of the check amount.
Bank accounts can meet the needs of money beyond what checks and prepaid cards services are able to. For example, their fraud protections can limit what you’re charged if you’re victimized, and many accounts allow you to lock debit cards remotely when stolen.
Once you’ve established a relationship with a bank, there are other possibilities are open: Credit cards, auto or small business loans and more affordable alternatives to payday loans may eventually be at hand.
Checking accounts “don’t only help you save expenses; they’re also the foundation for using other financial products,” says David Rothstein, principal at Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund who oversees BankOn, a national platform which helps to increase financial inclusion.
Look for a financial institution that will work for your needs.
If you find banks to be intimidating or you’ve had difficulty obtaining an account in the past you can open a bank account, community banks and credit unions are generally more friendly than national banks. They tend to be mission-driven, for example, focusing on the financial wellbeing of their communities.
“We’re very accommodating in giving someone a second possibility,” says Pedro Murillo, area branch manager in 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, do they have anything else (can they) show us? A letter from (their) boss? We don’t want to give up.”
Like other credit unions, Self-Help will require a person to create a savings account in order to join; the minimum amount required to open an account is usually a few bucks. Then members can apply for other services, like a credit builder loan.
You can search online for the word “CDFI” — that stands for the community-based financial institution- to . Some require that those who join to be part of the same state in which the credit union or bank has branches.
What should you know about applying
To open an account, you’ll generally require your Social Security number, one or two forms of identification and the money to make your first deposit.
It’s common to apply for two accounts with a bank at once that is a checking account and savings account. The checking account grants access to debit cards, bill payment system and other features, while the savings account allows you to set money aside and, ideally it will grow through making interest.
Banks usually screen applicants on ChexSystems, a national reporting agency that keeps records of accounts closed at the request of a person. If you have lost access to your bank account in the past and you’re not sure if you’ll be denied by different banks until you pay off the ChexSystems account. This could mean paying off debt to the bank or disputing mistakes on the record.
When you’ve been cleared, you can think of what banks typically refer to as a or a BankOn-approved checking account. Most of them do not charge overdraft fees, which kick in if you attempt to make a payment that could put your account in negative.
Finding and opening the right bank account involves some effort. Once you’ve been approved, finding a safe location for your money and a better chance to get low-cost loans could be worth it.
“To have a checking account… is the cornerstone to any money-empowering program,” Rothstein says.
This article originated from NerdWallet and was first printed by The Associated Press.
Author bio Spencer Tierney is an expert in the field of certificates of deposit at NerdWallet. He has had his work featured on USA Today and the Los Angeles Times.
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