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Comment by int_19h | Hacker News Reader

What about credit unions?

(Genuine question: I don't know if they are any better in that regard, or not.)

Credit unions have similar, maybe slightly lower, standards for opening accounts. They don't want to be stuck with overdrafts either.

I know that credit unions (and banks, for that matter) in my area don't require a high credit score to open an account - I was able to open two accounts - one in a credit union, another one in a bank - while having no credit score whatsoever after arriving to the country. The bank did actually run a credit check on me, and they told be that it basically came up as "no history", which to them is the same as not passed... but they didn't care, so long as I didn't ask them for a credit card.

The credit union that I'm banking with doesn't have a minimum account balance or account fees: https://www.firsttechfed.com/bank/checking/carefree_checking

Am I missing something?

Not missing anything, just not dealing with Wells Fargo/Chase/BoA.

Your experience with local credit unions is the same as mine. If you come in with $100 you can open an account.

The bank referenced above (the one that I was able to open an account for despite not having any credit history) is actually Wells Fargo. Although unlike the credit union, they do have minimum account balance (or account fees).

Anyway, getting back to the original question - if credit unions are indeed much more flexible wrt opening accounts, and not require account fees, why are there so many people without accounts? Is it because some areas simply don't have credit unions?

Banks and credit unions generally use Chexsystems, which is for banking history not the credit score from the three companies you'd usually think of.

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