Chime is an online-only bank that provides financial services to U.S citizens. It’s a neobank (known as digital banks) and so, doesn’t have any branches. All its banking services are provided via a mobile app that is available for both iPhone and Android users. The app lets you create a Spending Account & a Savings Account with Chime.
Frequently Asked Questions about Chime Bank
Yes. Chime bank is a real bank that can be considered as a digital bank with no physical branches. It’s a digital bank with which you can create a Spending Account for yourself or for your family. The bank offers you a Visa Debit Card and you even can open a Savings Account with Chime.
Chime bank offers you a spending account & a Visa Debit Card that comes with no extra charges or any annual fee. This digital bank makes money when you use that debit card for your day-to-day purchases. You can even build your credit score by applying for their credit builder card.
Chime bank is through two banks: The Bancorp Bank and The Stride N.A. As Chime is a digital-only bank, it provides all its financial services to its customers via these two banks. That is, as Chime partnered with these two banks, they offer their services to Chime which in turn provide those services to its users.
Yes. You will have to open a bank account with Chime in order to get its debit card or prepaid card. There are no hidden charges on this card & the spending account that you create.
Chime Bank Account Requirements are:
1) You need to be a Citizen of the U.S
2) You need to be at least 18 years old
Yes. You can trust Chime bank as it is an FDIC-insured bank. Which means, the Spending Account & the Savings Account that you create with Chime will be covered under the FDIC insurance policies. The amount covered under this policy is up to $250,000. So, you can trust this digital bank.
The Chime savings account can be considered as good as it comes up with 0.50% APY (Annual Percentage Yield). Interestingly, Chime won’t charge you any fee and there is no minimum balance requirement. All other popular banks which offer you almost the same APY will ask you for a minimum deposit and charge you additional fee.
Opening a Chime Account online is very easy. Follow these steps on your computer –
1) Launch your web browser
2) Go to Chime.com
3) Click on the Get Started button
4) Complete the Security Check
5) Type your First Name & Last Name
6) Enter your Email Address
7) Click on the Next button
8) Fill in your Date Of Birth
9) Click Next
10) Enter your Mobile Number
11) Continue with the Setup Process
12) Enter your Social Security Number (SSN) when asked
13) Provide your Street Address, Zip Code, etc
14) Select your Occupation
15) Select your Approximate annual income
16) Choose how often you get paid
17) Review your application in the next step
18) Click on the Submit button
These are the steps you need to follow in order to create a Chime account.
Yes. It’s part of Chime’s account setup process. You will have to enter your Social Security Number (SSN) when prompted. This number will be asked while creating an account.
Yes. Same as any other bank, Chime asks you to provide your SSN to open an account.
Yes. Chime can deny your account application. You will get a denial notification to your email address which may or may not include the exact reason for the rejection. Sometimes, Chime may just say that it cannot provide you with the reason due to some security reasons.
The rejection message will be something like – “We‘re Sorry! Unfortunately, based on the information provided, we were unable to open a Chime Deposit Account for you at this time.”
It’s free to open a Chime account. So, you don’t have to pay any money in advance in order to apply. Also, Chime doesn’t charge you any annual fees on its spending account, savings account, Visa debit card, and Credit Builder card.
No. You cannot have two Chime accounts. However, there are two types of accounts offered to you by Chime. They are: 1) Spending Account and 2) Savings Account. So, you can create both of them with your one Chime bank account.
In addition, Chime is offering a Credit Builder card that will help you increase your credit score by up to 30 points. However, you can apply to this credit card only when you already have a direct deposit setup for your spending account.
Chime uses ATMs of MoneyPass and VisaPlus Alliance networks. There are over 38,000 ATMs under the roof of these two networks across the United States.
You can simply make use of the ATM Locator feature on your Chime mobile banking app in order to find a nearby ATM where you can withdraw money from your Chime account at no fee.
Note that you will be charged an ATM surcharge when you withdraw cash from an out-of-the-network ATM. So, always make sure to visit a MoneyPass or VisaPlus Alliance network ATM in order to avoid this extra fee.
Chime requires you to be over 18 years old and a U.S citizen in order to open an account with them. However, they may still decline your application for some reasons that they don’t reveal which they say for their security purposes.
So, if you got denied for Chime, you can contact the Chime support team by sending a message to support@chime.com or simply call them at 844-244-6363. Chime’s customer service will be available from 6 AM to 10 PM (Monday – Friday). The timings are 7 AM to 9 PM on Saturdays and Sundays.
You can’t open a Chime account if the information that you provided to Chime while creating an account cannot be verified. So, always make sure to provide the correct personal info like your First Name, Last Name, Contact Info, SSN (Social Security Number), etc.
It is very easy to add money to your Chime account. You can either set up a direct deposit by providing your account number & routing number to your payroll provider or employer or simply visit any popular store like Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, etc to deposit cash.
Follow these steps to add money to your account –
1) Visit a Walmart near you
2) Walk to a cashier
3) Ask him/her for a Chime deposit
4) Hand over the cash you wanna add
5) The cashier will swipe your Chime card
6) Money will be deposited into your account
Note that Walmart will charge you a fee called reload fee which will be $3.74. This fee will vary with the store. For example, 7-Eleven may charge you $4.95 for the same amount deposited. You can add up to $1,000 in a day and the monthly limit is $10,000.
The locations at which you can add money to your Chime account or card are –
1) 7-Eleven
2) CVS
3) Walmart
4) Walgreens
5) Rite Aid
6) Duane Reade
7) Holiday Station Stores
8) Dollar General
9) Speedway
10) Family Dollar
11) Sheetz Incorp
12) Royal Farms
13) Kwik Trip Inc
14) Circle K Stores
15) Krause Gentle (Kum & Go)
16) GPM Investments
17) Pilot Travel Centers (Pilot Flying J)
18) Cumberland Farms Corp
19) TA Operating LLC (Travel Centers of America)
These are the stores at which you can deposit cash into your Chime Spending Account. Remember that each store has its own reload fee and so, I would suggest you visit Walmart as it is the cheapest available option with a reload fee of $3.74 for every $1,000 added to your account.
Chime and Greendot are partners. And so, you can reload your Chime card at 90,000+ Greendot locations across the U.S. Greendot locations are nothing but stores like Walgreens, 7-Eleven, CVS, Rite Aid, Family Dollar, etc.
You can withdraw $500/day from Chime. This is the maximum you can withdraw from an ATM in a day. Chime Spending Limits are as follows –
1) ATM Withdrawal limit is $500/day
2) Over The Counter (OTC) Withdrawal limit is $500/day
3) Debit Card Purchases (Signature & PIN) limit is $2,500/day
4) Cash Back at Point-of-Sale (POS) limit is $500/day
Note that there is no limit on the number of times you can withdraw cash from your Chime Spending Account.
No. You cannot withdraw $1,000 from your Chime account as the daily withdrawal limit is $500.
MoneyPass and VPA (VisaPlus Alliance) ATMs are free with Chime i.e. you won’t be charged a surcharge when you withdraw money from an ATM that belongs to these two networks. All other ATM networks will charge you a fee around $2.95 for each transaction.
No. Zelle hasn’t partnered with Chime bank and so, you will not be able to use Zelle alongside Chime. However, Zelle claims that users who are account holders of banks that are not part of its network can still use Zelle.
To do so, one should install the Zellepay app on the smartphone and then, add the debit card as a payment method in the app in order to use the card via Zelle. Still, Chime may not work this way as it has its own mobile banking app.
Chime doesn’t allow wire transfers yet. So, you or your friends & family will not able to wire money to your Chime account. Instead, give them your Chime Account Number & Routing Number and ask them to send money to your account.
If you have another bank account and want to transfer money to your Chime account from that bank, follow these steps –
1) Open your other bank’s website
2) Log into your spending account
3) Look for the transfer funds section
4) Then, enter Chime Routing Number
5) Enter your Chime Account Number
6) Enter the amount you want to send
7) Complete the fund transfer process
Note that these steps may vary with the bank. However, most commonly, all the banks will have a transfer money section on their website.
Your Chime Visa Debit Card may get declined in any of these cases –
1) You exhausted the daily purchase limit of $2,500
2) Your card is turned off for transactions
3) Your debit card is disabled for international transactions (Only when you are trying to do an international purchase or payment)
4) Chime blocked your debit card
5) Chime is experiencing technical issues
If you haven’t used $2,500 in a day, then check out the Chime mobile banking app and look if the card transactions option is disabled. If it is turned off, turn it back on. The same applies to international transactions as well.
If this is not the case with you, contact Chime by calling the support team at 844-244-6363. You can speak to a live person between 6 AM and 10 PM CST Monday through Friday. On Saturday & Sunday, customer service will be available from 7 AM to 9 PM.
The Savings Account offered by Chime will give you an Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 0.50%. It is designed in such a way that you can set automatic savings feature that works every time you make a transaction with your Chime Debit Card.
For example, if you made a payment of $5.65 at a store using your Chime card, the automatic Savings feature will add $0.35 to your Savings account. So, it round-ups to the nearest dollar and saves that amount.
Another great feature of Chime is – it lets you automatically save 10% of your paycheck that gets deposited in your account every month. For example, if your employer pays you $1,000 via direct deposit, $100 will be automatically added to your savings account.
Moreover, Chime doesn’t charge you any fee for opening a savings account. Also, there is no annual fee which is really great. This is how Chime’s Savings account works.
No. You cannot deposit money into your Chime savings account. You can transfer money from your spending account to your Savings account.
The other way to add money to your Chime savings account is by setting up the Save When I Get Paid feature which deposits 10% of your monthly paycheck amount.
Or else, you can simply keep on using your debit card for your noraml day-to-day purchases like buying groceries, fuel, renting a car, booking tickets, etc and when the automatic savings feature is enabled, round-ups of your transactions get accumulated in your savings account.
0.50% APY
On your Chime savings account, the interest gets added on the first day of every month. The credited interest will be calculated based on the amount present in your account in the previous month.
You need a Chime Spending Account in order to open a Chime Savings Account.
There is no minimum deposit requirement in order to open a Savings account with Chime.
Chime credit builder card is a Visa Credit Card that comes with no credit limit. In simple words, it can be used as a debit card but its ability to build your credit score will make it unique and one of its kind.
You will have to transfer money from your spending account into your credit builder card in order to make transactions with it. Chime will record your transactions and report them to three major credit bureaus – Equifax, Transunion, and Experian. With this, your credit score may increase by up to 30 points eventually.
You will be eligible to get a Credit Builder card once you set up a direct deposit with Chime by providing your Chime account number and routing number to your Employer or Payroll provider. Also, your account should have received a direct deposit of over $200 in the last 1 year in order to be eligible.
No. You cannot withdraw cash from an ATM using the Credit Builder card. Because the credit card is designed in such a way that it should only be utilized for purchases by swiping (offline) or online transactions.
Chime will report your Credit Builder card usage to major credit bureaus namely Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. So, when you make on-time payments (which is considered as a major factor) every month, the credit bureaus will eventually increase your score by up to 30 points.
Note that credit building is a time consuming process and so, you need to have enough credit history in order to get your score updated by the bureaus.
Even though it is considered a credit card, the Chime Credit Builder card doesn’t give you any credit limit in advance. So, you need to add money to it via your spending account. So, the money you spend using your credit card is already yours.
This is where people really get confused as they still need to pay the statements or bills generated at the end of every month.
The actual reason to pay the bills is – Chime holds the transaction amounts and later generate a statement at the end of the month. In order to build your credit score, you need to have a good bill payment history and so, Chime is trying on behalf of you by holding the amount that you added.
So, once the credit builder credit card statement is generated, you will be able to release the amount manually or automatically. You don’t have to worry as this is the same amount that you previously added using your Spending Account.
Your Chime credit builder card bills will be generated around the 28th or 29th of every month. And, you can pay the bill the next day.
You can pay your Chime credit builder statements manually or automatically.
To manually pay credit builder bill –
1) Launch the Chime app
2) Tap on the Settings
3) Select Credit Builder
4) Choose Safer Credit Building
5) Tap on the Make a payment now option
6) Tap Pay your total balance (or)
7) Select tap on Pay another amount option
8) Confirm the bill payment
To pay your credit builder card bill automatically –
1) Open the Chime app
2) Tap on the Settings option
3) Go to the Credit Builder section
4) Tap on the Safer Credit Building option
5) Then, tap on the Turn On button
6) You just enabled automatic payments
There is no credit limit on a Chime Credit Builder Credit Card. That is, Chime doesn’t give you cash in advance. You will have to deposit money into it via your spending account in order to use it and increase your credit score.
Yes. You can add cash to your Chime credit builder card from your spending account.
No. Chime doesn’t report your credit utilization to credit bureaus as it doesn’t actually provide any amount in advance.
NO. you cannot withdraw $5000 from Chime as the daily withdrawal limit is just $500. So, you can withdraw up to $500 from an ATM in a day.
You cannot withdraw money from Chime without a card. The only thing you can do is check your Chime app for the cardless withdrawals option and if it is available, visit an ATM that is enabled for cardless transactions.
To speak to a live person at Chime, take your mobile and call this number: 844-244-6363.
Send a message expressing your concern to support@chime.com
SpotMe on Chime means Overdraft facility. It means Chime will provide you with certain amount in advance on your debit card that can be paid later.
Chime’s SpotMe works as an overdraft facility that comes up with zero fees or charges. For this, your account must be receiving a direct deposit of over $500 every month. Chime will then analyze your balance history and then, will provide you the SpotMe service.
Depending on your Chime account history, you may get eligible for an overdraft anywhere between $20 and $100. The more cash gets direct deposited in your account, the more will be the overdraft limit on your Chime debit card transactions.
You can use Chime SpotMe for all your debit card purchases & transactions.
There is no restriction on the number of times you can use Chime SpotMe service. However, you are limited to the overdraft amount that is offered to you by Chime.
All your debit card purchases are eligible for the SpotMe service on Chime except gas.
No. Chime SpotMe doesn’t work at the pump but you can use it to pay inside at the gas station.
To get or be eligible for Chime SpotMe –
Your account should receive over $500/month in direct deposits
If you already receive such amounts, check out your Chime mobile banking app and go to the Settings section to find out whether you are eligible or not.
If the SpotMe option is available to you, simply accept the terms and conditions to get the service activated.
Yes. You can use your Chime debit card and Credit Builder card at the pump but note that you may get overcharged by the gas station.