I have some experience with ChexSystems. I'm still on it by 2 banks. One of them for account abuse/NSF, and one marked Fraud.
I've only recently realized I could pull their report, but it's falling off very soon. So this is advice not how to battle them but just what I did in the years without a bank account:
First, get yourself an American Express Serve card. It's a prepaid like NetSpend, but without any fees, with free ATM locations, and only a $1 a month service fee, but if you direct deposit with them, they waive the fee. I've been using this as my main "checking" account for many years.
Limitations: Not everyone takes AmEx, you can't write checks, and you can not wire money, so you can't use it as a "checking account" for important stuff. Gettting gas sometimes they put a $100 hold for a week, annoying. But for every day swiping, and bill payments, they're great. Their customer service is great so if you lose your card and someone uses it, it's really easy to dispute, etc etc. It's a good service.
To get around the limitations, I've had to get a NetSpend card that I only used very rarely only if Visa is required. Instead of checks, money orders.
Fast forward to just a few weeks ago, I realized that BBVA Compass bank does not use chex systems. They have two free checking options - I applied for the main one, they denied it, but they allowed me to make the other one. I assume it's their version of a second-chance account, but they market it like a regular checking.
So yeah, with 2 banks still on ChexSystems, I was able to open an account with them, get a visa check card , all that great stuff.
Hope that helps! Order your ChexSystems report. I disputed something on my report and they came back with a BOX of paperwork, actual checks I wrote, my signatures on a lot of stuff. It was SCARY. Just fyi.
