My son, at 26, has shot his credit and I think has Chexsystems problems. Also, he has no permanent address, living in extended stay motels with friends sharing the costs while he does work around the country. That is the bad news. Now the good news. He has changed careers, and can get all the work he wants at good pay. He loves the travelling and is able to stay in one area a couple months at a time. He is finally making real good money. He wants to save as much as possible before he gets a small apartment. Now the problem. No one will give him a bank account. They cite lack of permanent address, credit problems, Chexsystem problems, and so on. Right now he is carrying his money around in a briefcase. He sleeps with it at night, and locks it in the car when he works. One additional problem is moving around a lot this year before he settled down. Addresses in the Northeast, the midwest, and the south. No stability at all. His drivers license is from Illinois, but he is in Texas. I have thought about letting him put the money in my account, but he does not want to. He wants control. I thought of setting up a separate bank account in my name for his use only, but he could not write checks on it because of the difference in names. I could let him use my address, but his drivers license does not match, nor will his credit reports match. Where can he put his money? It scares me that he has all this cash. One good thief could wipe out his savings. Also, a kid here locally was killed by his two good friends last week for less than $100. Will a bank let him have a savings account with an ATM card under the circumstances? What about an ATM card like AAA where you deposit money onto the card? Or the Visa ATM card for students, where you get a card and deposit funds on it? How safe are these? Any suggestions are appreciated.
Try opening another account at your own bank. Maybe even a business account for the home based business you run occasionally selling a few things online??? Since you'd like to keep your business funds separate from your personal funds? Then have him added on as a signer on the account. We've added signers onto our accounts with nothing but the name and signature on the signature card. Not even a SSN. That's why the suggestion of a business account. Now you may be able to do the same thing with a personal account. But we have DEFINITELY done it with a business account. It scares me to death to hear he's carrying that kind of cash around. That is a tragedy waiting to happen. DemPooches
No bank is going to give him an account or ATM card, and especially now, with the new patriot act compliance procedures (checking everything) I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever recommend this card to anyone, but it is about the only thing I can think of that would help. He could get a "stored value" card. You have to be careful - some of these are offered through supposed offshore accounts - if they stole his money he would be out of luck. The only one I have found so far, other than those offered by employers for payroll purposes, is the AmeriOne card - it is expensive, but it beats carrying huge amount of cash in a suitcase.
If he's moving around so much, can't he use your address as his legal residence? I wouldn't worry so much right now about his address not matching his CR. My name doesn't match my CR, and I haven't gotten around to mailing them my new SSN yet, but I haven't had any problems at all. Why couldn't he get even a savings account? It seems silly to me to deny someone a savings account, what damage could he do? I really have no knowledge of the banking system, so I don't know what he should do, but he can't carry all of that around w/ him. Has he tried to get a savings? Even w/ out an ATM card at first. Just go to a Nationwide Bank. If he's in Texas, can he get a state ID w/ his address on it? They don't have to know he's only staying a few months. I know you can in my state, but not sure about others. I know I haven't given any real advice here, but I hope you all can figure something out very soon. Good luck to both of you!!
He could always get a PO box. Many banks don't mind sending statements, checks etc to PO boxes. The (more expensive) alternative is using a private mailbox rental places like Mail Boxes Etc., Pak-n-Mail etc. These places provide you with a street address and unit (apt, suite, #, PMB) number. Now many places will tell you the USPS requires that mail be addressed like so: Mr. John Doe PMB 2468 <------ 1600 Penn Ave #305 Washington, DC 10101 Where the PMB (private mail box) is supposed to throw up a red flag at banks, credit card companies etc. However, that requirement was never instituted so he can still use Mr. John Doe 1600 Penn Ave #305-2468 Washington, DC 10101 Or some such thing. As for stored value cards, there are several, the AAA Everyday Funds card is nice. You get a statement, it's issued by MBNA, they will send it to a PO Box and they will print any name on the card--they're pretty much anonymous. AAA also offers another Visa card product: "Visa TravelMoney is the convenient and secure way to carry cash in every currency when traveling. Visa TravelMoney is a pre-paid travel card that gives you 24-hour access to your travel funds in any local currency. Your dedicated travel funds are quickly accessed at more than 750,000 Visa ATMs in 137 countries...your funds are fully protected by your personally-selected PIN. And because Visa TravelMoney is a pre-paid, reloadable cardâ??not associated with any of your bank accountsâ??you can add more funds to your card when in the U.S. or simply throw away the card when your funds are depleted." AAA Everyday Funds www.storedvalue.aaa.com Citi® Cash Card www.cashcard.citicards.com iGen card (available at Rite-Aid pharmacies) www.igencard.com
It seems like he could use your address and an oline bank like USAA. USAA the last I heard doesn't use chex. You just have to log into the internet to pay bills.
Thanks for the suggestions. I just went into Bank of America (he used to have an account with them) and discussed your solutions. They will give me a second personal account with my name that he can use, but I have total liability if he has problems. UGH. They will not give him a new account in his name and said it is unlikely other banks will, due to his credit problems. She suggested the Visa Buxx prepaid Visa, but said you have to load them through a bank account. That would be a problem. I am headed up to AAA to check out their stored value card in a few minutes. I think you can load those at AAA offices. The best idea she had was for me to open a SAVINGS account in my name for him with a debit card tied to the account. He can deposit cash at any BOA. If there is no money in the account, the debit card does not work, so my liability is limited. The only downside is that free withdrawals are limited to three per month. After that it is $3 per withdrawal, plus ATM charges. But, since he is paid a couple times per week, he can just keep enough cash to pay the bills. Any other suggestions are appreciated. I think we are making good progress towards a solution.
I think the BOA thing sounds good. As you said, he can just keep out as much $$$ as he needs from his paycheck. At least it's a starting point. As things improve, he will be able to open his own BOA account. Good for you, taking these steps to help your son! What a caring and considerate mother your son has!
I think that BofA savings account with debit card sounds like a great solution! If the debit card cuts off when the account is empty, that should limit your liability. There would of course be the issue of the interest on the account which would be reported under your SSN, but I'm sure the tax folks can handle that kind of thing easily. If you think he's ready to, you might suggest a visit to Creditnet to your son. If he starts working on his credit issues now, he'll sure be in better shape when he's ready for a major purchase that he needs to finance. One other thought....can he qualify for a secured credit card? He could secure it with regular big deposits via money order and would have his money readily available that way and be building credit besides. DemPooches
I don't know how AAA sells any of those debit cards. Their local office knows nothing - they gave me MNBA. I called there, but the guy did not know the difference between a debit and credit card. He gave me another number to call. That number will not give me a live person unless I have an account number. The web site does not have much info.
Finally got a rep at MBNA. He is not aware of any debit cards offered by MBNA, nor does he have any info on the AAA stored value card. AAA specifically said I would have to contact MBNA to get a card. Went back to the AAA stored value web site. When you click on "application", it tells you to go into a local AAA office to apply. The local office says I have to call MBNA to apply. Has anyone actually got a card from these clowns? I actually like the idea that MBNA is behind it, but have to say that I have not been impressed yet.
I'm not familiar with them at all, but here's a <bump> for you and maybe someone else will know. DemPooches
