Some of us have made mistakes in the past or have found themselves victims of other people. Poor financial judgment may have resulted in bad credit and/or bankruptcy. Sometimes it’s not even really your fault, for example if your identity has been stolen by some unscrupulous individual who then destroys your credit. Those people used to be really out of sorts when they tried to open bank accounts, because almost all banks would turn them down.
If any of the previous situations I’ve described rings a familiar bell, don’t lose hope. There are companies that offer a set of financial services for people like you, who just want a second chance so they can make things right. There are banks that open bank accounts for people with bad credit or no credit, or even people who have been reported to Chexsystems. While big banks will turn you down without even a second thought, smaller banks have different and most of the time more lenient policies.
You’re not going to get that far ahead financially until you take action and start doing what is necessary to repair your credit. That is going to require that you plan ahead and, most of all, be patient about the whole thing. If your credit is trashed because of overdrafts that you haven’t paid back, it’s time to find out who you owe and how much, and make plans to have those debts paid off, but don’t rush into it. Depending on how old those debts are, you might hurt your credit more by making payments on them.
Yes, it may sound counter-intuitive, but the older a debt is, the less impact it has on your credit score. In other words, recent stuff has more importance in the calculation of your credit score than older stuff does. So when you make a payment on, say, a 5-year old debt, the date of last activity (which is the measuring stick), you bring that debt to recent status, with all the negative marks associated with it. So it’s best to tread with caution.
Another thing to pay attention to is the accuracy of your credit report. A large percentage of credit reports have mistakes, and it’s recommended you take a good look at your to see if you’re not being penalized on the basis of information that’s not even correct. You should get copies of your credit reports on a regular basis, to spot and correct any mistakes as quickly as possible.
Bad credit hurts you in many ways. It’s very important that you do your best to maintain a positive credit history. If your credit is bad, take steps to repair it. It’s something that’s too important to be neglected.
Aiko Campbell offers information on non chexsystems banks checking accounts, where you can get bank accounts even if you have bad credit
