Capital One bank soon will be making it easier for those with bad credit to open checking and savings accounts, under the terms of a settlement with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Previously, Capital One would use a credit reporting agency called Chexsystems to screen out bank account applicants who had bad credit.  Now Capital One has agreed to no longer screen out applicants with bad credit, but it will still screen out those who committed fraud in the past.  The settlement is part of the NY Attorney General’s ongoing investigation into banks’ use of credit reporting agencies.

Schneiderman’s concern is that people with bad credit who don’t have bank accounts are forced to rely instead on high-cost financial products, such as check-cashing stores.  My last post on this blog was a review of a film about (in part) people who cannot get bank accounts and what they have to do to get around that problem.

Capital One will roll out the changes nationwide toward the end of 2014.