ChexSystems on your credit report: what this inquiry means

Who ChexSystems is

ChexSystems collects and reports data on checking account applications, openings and closures, including why an account was closed. Banks and credit unions check it before opening a checking or savings account, and some lenders use its deposit data when you have little or no credit history. An account closed with an unpaid overdraft is the classic ChexSystems record.

Is it a hard or soft inquiry?

A bank's ChexSystems check is logged in your ChexSystems file. It isn't a bureau hard inquiry and doesn't count in FICO or VantageScore credit scores. Some banks also pull a credit report when you open an account or ask for overdraft protection, and that pull appears at the bureau with its own label.

Why it showed up on your report

You opened, or tried to open, a checking or savings account. ChexSystems data is also used to build prescreened lists for credit and insurance offers.

How to check that you authorized it

1. Request your free ChexSystems consumer disclosure report and read the inquiry section.
2. Match each bank or credit union to an account you opened or applied for.
3. If a bank you never contacted appears, check for a new account in your name and consider a ChexSystems freeze.

How to reach ChexSystems

Request your consumer disclosure report online, by phone or by mail. You're entitled to one free copy every 12 months, a free score is available on request, and ChexSystems will freeze your file if you ask.

Guides that go deeper

• Specialty consumer reports: ChexSystems, tenant screening and moreBanks, landlords, insurers, and utilities often check reports you've never seen. Who keeps them, how to get yours free, and how to fix errors in them.
• Freezing all the bureaus, including the ones nobody mentionsEquifax, Experian, and TransUnion are three of the freezes you need. The other four, with each company's own freeze link, phone and mail address.
• Identity theft recovery, step by step, in the order that worksThe FTC's recovery sequence, explained: what to do in the first hour, why the Identity Theft Report comes before disputes, and how to clear each account.
• Hard vs. soft inquiries: which credit checks count against youA hard inquiry comes from a credit application and can trim your score. A soft one never does. A table of the common checks, gray zones included.