We write a lot of content about bank accounts, whether it be sign up bonuses or high interest accounts. A lot of this information is only useful for a small amount of time, I thought it would be useful to create a page with links to pages with content that is relevant almost always.
Other posts in this series:
- Credit Card Reference Pages
- Credit Reports & Scoring Reference Pages (coming tomorrow)
Bank Account Bonuses
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Best Bank Account Bonuses
- Met The Requirements Of A Bank Bonus And Haven’t Received It? Here’s What To Do
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Bank Accounts That Can Be Funded With A Credit Card
- List Of Methods Banks Count As Direct Deposits
- Is Opening A Bank Account A Soft Or Hard Pull?
- What Are The Easiest Ways To Close Bank Accounts?
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Receiving A Direct Deposit From Amazon To Qualify For Bank Sign Up Bonuses
- How To Find & Use A Chase Coupon Code
- How To Get Targeted For A Chase Saving Or Checking Account Coupon
- Can You Churn Chase Checking & Savings Bonuses?
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- PSA: Don’t Close Citigold – Downgrade It!
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
- Unique Ways To Trigger Bank Account Bonus Direct Deposit Requirements
- Hub Accounts – ACH Transfers: Capabilities, Fees, and Limits Across Financial Institutions
- How To Meet Minimum Debit & Credit Transaction Requirements
ChexSystems
- An Introduction To ChexSystems, Inc
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
Early Warning Systems
- Everything You’ve Wanted To Know About Early Warning Services (EWS)
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull Early Warning Services?
Rewards Checking
- An Introduction To Rewards Checking Accounts
- “Which High-Interest Savings Account Should I Get?”
- High-Yield Savings Accounts: Profit per Account
- Lake Michigan Credit Union: 3% Reward Checking Account On Up To $15,000
- Great Lakes Credit Union (GLCU) – 3% Rewards Checking Account Review
- Consumers Credit Union 5.07% APY On Up To $20,000 Rewards Checking
- Insight 5% APY Prepaid Card on up to $5,000
- Mango Prepaid 6% Interest Rate
- One American Bank – 3.5% APY Rewards Checking Account On Up To $10,000 [No Direct Deposit Required]
- Control Card 5% APY On Up To $5,000 + $20 Sign Up Bonus
- Paypal Prepaid 5% APY On Up To $5,000
- Northpointe 5% Interest Checking Account
- Guide to 5% Interest Prepaid/Savings Accounts
- Netspend 5% Savings Accounts on up to $5000
- Aspiration Summit Checking Account Review – No Monthly Fees, 1% APY, No ATM Fees Worldwide + Donations To Charity
- Main Street Bank 2.25% APY on up to $25,000 – Available Nationwide
A page I’d love to see, is a list of banks/CUs that now integrate themselves into common payroll softwares, and can make DD request changes on the customer’s behalf. This would help keep churning low-key and less work for HR/employers, if we don’t have to be submitting Direct Deposit changes all the time into our payroll softwares; the bank/CU submits it for us.
A bank/CU to get started: MI Community Financial Credit Union (cfcu.org)
Does anyone know if opening children’s savings accounts impact your Chex report? I’m thinking about opening several Capital One Kids accounts but we’d do it under P2’s name if it might impact my ability to open new accounts (I have the flexible DD which is great for new account bonuses). The child can be listed as the primary for tax purposes but my or P2’s info needs to be co-owner.
Hi everyone!
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).
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If you get denied for an account, and the Financial Institution give a reason such as “Unable to verify identity”, “ChexSystems” or “Experian”, it may not be the real reason. MeridianLink may have reported an FAS to the F.I. and therefore labelled you as a “high risk applicant”
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Has anyone heard of MeridianLink (https://www.meridianlink.com/)?
They work with banks and credit unions to facilitate applications.
I have recently been denied checking accounts with 3 different credit unions (BluePeak, California Coast and America’s Christians Credit Unions).
They have all given various reasons for the denials but on pressing further I have found out that they all used MeridianLink for the applications and MeridianLink have reported an FAS (Fraudulent Activity Suspicion) to each Credit Union, thereby labeling me as a “high risk applicant”.
I do not know where the FAS is coming from as it is not in any common database (I have clean Credit, ChexSystems and Early Warning Systems Reports), and I have no idea who may have reported it.
MeridianLink does not communicate with customers and there is no way to get any reports from them. I was nevertheless able to talk to them, and they confirmed that they have submitted the FAS report to the 3 credit unions where I had applied and was denied. Support could only tell me that the FAS was reported in 2021, but they do not know who reported it and how they got it.
I have talked to Experian Identity Restoration, Experian Credit Bureau, ChexSystems, CFPB and FTC. They are not able to help.
I am not sure where to turn next to get more info about this…..
Meridian is the company behind loanspq.com…if you’ve ever requested an OTP to view a pending application, it will come from a meridianlink.com address.
Maybe start by looking into getting your reports from their partners:
https://www.meridianlink.com/marketplace/partners/?_integration_taxonomy=fraud
This doc could also be useful to find contact info:
https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_consumer-reporting-companies-list_2024.pdf
That’s interesting. As you are an active churner, I assume you have opened other credit union accounts that use meridianlink or loanspq in the past three years. If the FAS was reported in 2021 as you were told, it is odd that it only starts to negatively affect you now.
It depends on if I have applied to an institution that is using MeridianLink and if they are sensitive to the FAS label.
The important point here is that they will not tell you that you are denied because of the FAS. They will tell you “cannot verify identity”, ChexSystems, Credit Report etc.
I don’t know how many of my denials were due the FAS and how many were due to other reasons. However, I know that at least 3 denials were due to the FAS because I investigated those 3 denials specifically.
For example, my latest application with America’s Christian CU was denied because of “cannot verify identity” and then listing Experian (with a score of 823..). I called them, together with an agent from Experian ID restoration team, and after a lot of back-and-forth was I informed by upper management that the real reason for the denial was the FAS.
To me, the FAS label is a derogatory remark, hard to imagine a credit union would not be sensitive to it if they see it.
In my impression, most credit unions use meridianlink (formerly known as loanspq) to process applications. I assume the risk assessment from meridianlink is part of the product, but it is possible that it is an optional feature that credit unions do not have to purchase.
Erik
My thoughts as well…it could be like an a la carte menu, you (the credit union) must choose one or more of these CRAs that we will pull reports from for risk assessment and charge you for accordingly. The three
Erik was denied from maybe just happened to pick the one CRA that had the FAS, while other CUs did not, thus my suggestion above.
To Erik’s point that “they will not tell you that you are denied because of the FAS”, if I pull two reports on you and one contains a FAS while the other doesn’t, the statement “cannot verify identity” would not be inaccurate.
Smart guess, that is a possibility too!
New bonus on swagbucks/mypoints. $60-$75 for opening a savings account with four options: Quontic, CIT, Laurel Road or Bask Bank.
I can’t seem to find these offers when I’m looking now
I think it’s this one, although I thought I remembered a post from earlier this year too: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/bank-accounts/how-to-meet-minimum-debit-credit-transaction-requirements/
Ah, found it! https://www.doctorofcredit.com/share-your-tips-for-meeting-small-1-spent-transactions/
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/bank-accounts/how-to-meet-minimum-debit-credit-transaction-requirements/, done.
Anybody try the $20 Western Union referral bonus? Used a link wonder how long bonus will take.
Hub Accounts – ACH Transfers: Capabilities, Fees, and Limits Across Financial Institutions
That page is actually directly accessible from the dropdown menu in the header, under ‘Bank Accounts’…right above the ‘Reference Pages’ ironically, lol
Ha! You are right, except – ironically, lol – I got there via Knowledge Base > Bank Account Reference Pages. 😁
Done
Does anyone have any recommendations for a hub? I’ve used Schwab in the past, but if I start adding too many accounts, it starts giving errors when I try to add a new external account with just the bank/routing number. Ideally, it should be something that triggers a lot of fake DDs and also lets you add/remove external accounts easily without much hassle.
Hello, I just turned 18 – could anyone recommend me what my first bank should be and its pros/cons?
idk but i desposited $500 from Schwab to citizens and got $316 in 3 months