Simple review of banks and credit unions in CA that offer second chance banking! If you are one of those who are unable to open regular checking accounts because of being marked by Chexsystems, it is a good option. If you find some banks or credit unions wrongly listed or missed, please let me know. And I’ll update it as soon as possible.

CoastHills Federal Credit Union offers 2nd Chance Checking with monthly service fee of $10 and privilege of Unlimited Check Writing. It has branches in Orcutt, Santa Maria, Atascadero, Lompoc, Crossroads, Nipomo, Five Cities, Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo, CA.

Heritage Community Credit Union offers 2nd chance checking accounts with initial deposit of $25, no balance requirement and low service fee. Anyone who lives or works in counties of Placer and Sacramento is eligible to join Heritage Community.

Kern Federal Credit Union‘s Fresh Start Checking is designed for its members who had NSF activities and want to re-establish a good banking history. Its opening deposit is $25 and the service fee is $20/month.

Energy One Federal Credit Union provides its members who have negative Chexsystems records with second chance to make a Clean Slate. Its second chance checking comes with no balance requirement and monthly maintenance fee of $9.95. You’ll be eligible for Unlimited check writing too!

Southland Credit Union offers Opportunity Checking Accounts to its members without any initial deposit required! If you live or work in Long Beach, Orange County, Paramount, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Santa Fe Springs, Lakewood, La Habra Heights, Bellflower, La Mirada, Cerritos, Artesia, Norwalk and Signal Hill or employee of some certain SEGs, you’ll be eligible to join the credit union.

Premier America Credit Union‘s Fresh Start Checking account comes with opening deposit of only $25 and monthly service fee of $10. Note that it is only designed for its members.

Ventura County Credit Union offers 2nd chance checking accounts to its members who lives in two counties of Ventura or Santa Barbara, CA.

Alliance Credit Union‘s Fresh Start Checking is a good chance to rebuild your checking history. It is surprising that there is no balance requirement. Its service charge is $10/month. But you’ll be required to make an initial deposit of at least $25.

Alta Vista Credit Union‘s Opportunity Checking is a type of non-interest bearing account with monthly service fee of $20. If you want to apply for the special account, you should be a member of this credit union. And if you live or work in Riverside or San Bernardino, CA, you’ll be eligible to join Alta Vista.

You’ll be required to make initial deposit of $100 to open second chance checking account of CD FEDERAL CREDIT UNION. And its monthly service fee is $10. And if you keep the account in good standing for 12 months, there is also opportunity for you to convert it to a regular checking. Note that the credit union is only open to members of some certain SEGs.

Foothill Federal Credit Union‘s Rebound Checking is well designed for its members who have negative Chexsystems records. There is also opportunity for you to upgrade it!

Western Federal Credit Union‘s Right Start Checking is a type of 2nd chance checking with opening deposit of $25. Western Federal Credit Union has several branches in CA. You can access its site to see if you qualify for its membership. (http://www.western.org/membership/eligibility.aspx)

Central State Credit Union offers Fresh Start Checking to its members who have some checking account problems in the past. Anyone who lives or works in counties of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Amador or Calaveras is eligible for the membership of Central State Credit Union.

Los Angeles Federal Credit Union and Mid Cities Financial Credit Union offer Second Chance Checking accounts with low monthly service fee in CA.

At last, Compass Bank also has 65 branches in CA. So you can apply for its 2nd chance banking service at any branch offices of the bank in Martell, San Diego, Bakersfield, Modesto, Lynwood, Lincoln, Carlsbad, Modesto, Clovis, San Ysidro, Sun City and Lodi, CA.