Reply #96: Banks check both your credit and

[liberalhistorian]

bad check reporting bureaus (can't remember the name of the main one right now); if you have any blemishes they don't like, or are below a certain score, you don't get the account. And then your credit is screwed more because the inquiry shows up on your report. Even credit unions pull this shit now, which is ridiculous. Banks have a lot more recourse than creditors if you bounce a check, they just close the account/don't pay the check.

And context be damned. It doesn't matter to the bank if your credit is blemished because of medical bills, job loss, illness of family, inability to find another job, etc., etc., etc. They don't give a shit, just like creditors and employers and insurers don't give a shit. Soon, you can't get a job or a bank account, which is nuts. It becomes one vicious cycle that gets very hard to escape. Poverty really is punished in this country.