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How ChexSystems Contributes to Systemic Financial Exclusion

In March 2025, U.S. Senators Andy Kim and Elizabeth Warren wrote directly to the President of ChexSystems, citing San Francisco’s Office of Financial Empowerment and its landmark report, “Blacklisted: How ChexSystems Contributes to Systemic Financial Exclusion.” The Senators documented that ChexSystems’ own parent company, FIS, has estimated that five percent of applicants cannot qualify for a bank account at all. The report’s findings were unambiguous: the system disproportionately excludes people of color, low-income consumers, and survivors of financial abuse. It recommended structural reforms including limiting the reporting period, requiring affirmative consent before reporting, and prohibiting the use of ChexSystems data for purposes beyond account screening.

None of those reforms have been adopted nationwide.