As for the idiotic response by Rosalind (#1) - she is very ill informed as to why people would choose this account or as to how they may have arrived at this financial point in life. Most of the consumers using these products are NOT poor. They are hardworking blue collar citizens of the US. Many prefer Woodforest for its convenience and late hours (in most states Woodforest is open all day Mon-Fri with Sat AND Sun hours) and the hours of operation work far better with their schedules. Their notary fees, money order fees, etc are lower than most commercial banks.

Bank accounts are NOT opened solely on the basis of Check Reporting Agencies. Many use credit report scores and have a minimum for opening accounts. In NC, Wachovia has the lowest score eligiblity for new accounts outside of credit unions and banks like Woodforests. Many consumers in this age are victims of identity theft and during the process of clearing the errors they may have to resort to products such as this. Many consumers have suffered divorce, bankruptcy or medical loss that effectively destroys their credit rating. This list goes on and on. NEVER judge something that you haven’t personally experienced!

I’d rather see a small bank excelling by doing favors for 2nd chance qualifiers than a big bank opening accounts for illegals and drug lords and profiting thru illegality!

Go Woodforest !

Try Washington Mutual’s website to open an account. They offer second chance accounts.

Bills can be paid either from a checking account or savings account, so actual check writing is becoming more and more obsolete - especially with the recent changes in the law regarding checking accounts. The best thing about credit unions is that you only need anywhere from $25-50 to open an account. The “second chance” accounts you wrote about have substituted the “set up” fee for the opening deposit… and these “set up” fees are on the high end (debit card fee) - or are way more (checking account fee) - than what a credit union would require to open a new account.

I see this as nothing but another way for someone to make money off the ignorance of the poor. Most people that ruin their “regular” bank accounts do so because they are ignorant of financial management skills; and most of the people who find themselves in this situation are poor. Hence my stance.

There are other, and better, options than this second chance scheme. The only people I can think of who may benefit from this is someone who lives in a town where there are no local OR regional credit unions for community members. Also, many people’s schools and jobs qualify them for membership in credit unions that restrict membership to certain employees and member organizations… but they just don’t know about those options because they are not told and they don’t know to ask.