 TITLE: Does an Overdraft Affect Your Credit Score? CONTENT: Do Checking Accounts Appear on a Credit Report?\n-----------------------------------------------\nEvery credit card and loan you have appears on your credit report to indicate you're borrowing and repaying money to a lender. But a debit card pulls from money in a checking account—you're not borrowing from anyone. For that reason, checking accounts aren't included on credit reports.\nThat means even if you spend more than what you have in your account and incur an overdraft fee, the overdraft will not appear on your credit report. Phew.\nBe aware, however, that there is a banking reporting bureau called ChexSystems that keeps tabs on your deposit accounts with banks and credit unions. Your account activity is tracked, including items such as overdrafts, bounced checks, unpaid negative balances, involuntary account closure as well as any fraud related to your card, account or an ATM.\nWhen you apply to open a new bank account, you could be denied if your ChexSystems report shows a history of repeated irresponsible account use. But that doesn't affect your credit or ability to take out a loan or credit card. You should also know that there are ways to clean up your ChexSystems report, and some banks offer second-chance accounts where they're willing to either not use ChexSystems or overlook more dings than they usually do. END