The first time I tried to get a bank account as a mostly broke college student, I walked into a branch of the bank that had an agreement with my university to supply ATMs on campus. I said I wanted an account. They did everything in their power to not give me an account. Eventually, they rejected me because I had a NYS non-driver's ID card instead of a license. "We've had problems with these," they said. This bank branch was in downtown Manhattan, where roughly no one drives.

A few years after I managed to get them to give me an account, I overdrafted my checking account by a few dollars and they disabled my ATM card. After my next deposit cleared, I went back to that bank branch to get my card reinstated. They did not want to do it. The manager eventually said he could help me if I "promised I wouldn't do it again". I asked for my account to be closed instead, and I will always remember how pleased the guy seemed to be losing me as a customer.

It is not easy for everyone to get and maintain a bank account.