BankMindful - Chime Full Review

Full Review

Published: October 17, 2022
Updated: December 8, 2023

Chime isn't our favorite financial technology (fintech) company, but it could be yours. In fact, it is the #4 most popular finance app in the Google Play store and #7 in the iOS App store with over a million combined reviews and a 4.8 rating on both platforms.

Chime was founded by Chris Britt and Ryan King in 2013. Chime is not a bank and has no current plans for a bank charter. Instead, they partner with FDIC member banks Bancorp Bank (Bank ID 2858960, FDIC Certificate # 35444) and Stride Bank N.A. (Bank ID 278555, FDIC Certificate # 4091) to offer banking services including the standard $250,000 deposit insurance.

Bottom Line Up Front: Get the $100 bonus. Try it out. With no fees, there is no risk.

Positives	Negatives
Quick $100 signup bonus No fees including no overdraft fees with SpotMe Early Paycheck Pay Anyone without another app Secured credit card with no fee and no minimum Automatic Savings	Limited check writing and bill pay Interest rate should be higher Out of network ATM fees

The App

The app looks very sleek and professional and is very easy to use. The website looks and feels similar to the app but isn't exactly the same and some features are only available in the app such as Pay Anyone. The app also offers biometric sign-in with your fingerprint. We have only noticed 1 small bug so far and that is on the website. When you click the support icon, your name in the top right corner is replaced with a “Sign In” link making it appear that you have been logged out when you actually have not.

Signup Bonus

Chime offers one of the fastest and easiest signup bonuses we have ever seen. You will get $100 deposited directly to your Chime checking account as soon as you receive a payroll direct deposit of $200 or more within the first 45 days of opening your account. It's that simple. Chime doesn't make you wait for your bonus like everyone else. You can withdraw the bonus on the same day. Be sure to signup using a referral link like this one to get the offer.

Checking

Everything starts with the Chime checking account. You are required to open the Chime checking account before using any other features, but that isn't a bad deal at all because the checking account has no fees! Chime has no overdraft fees, no monthly maintenance fees, no minimum balance fees, no foreign transaction fees, and no deposits required for either the checking account or the savings account which will be discussed later.

Transactions with the checking account are very fast as we have come to expect from fintech now, especially compared to traditional banks. Early paycheck allows you to get paid up to 2 days early when you switch your direct deposit to Chime. After setting up your account, you can also sign up for free access to credit building tools from Experian including FICO Score 8 which is the credit score most lenders use.

Mobile check deposits are available in the app, but not on the website. You can deposit up to $5,000 per check and up to $20,000 in checks per month. The Chime app and website both allow you to mail checks to individuals or businesses with limits of $5,000 per check and $10,000 per month. Unfortunately, this is the only check writing or bill pay feature currently offered by Chime. The checks can't be scheduled in advance and will be deducted from your account as soon as you submit the request. The checks take 3 to 9 business days to arrive and can't be expedited.

Visa debit card

The Chime checking account comes with a free Visa debit card that has no foreign transaction fees. You can use this card anywhere Visa is accepted. Chime gives you options to setup instant transaction alerts with balance notifications anytime you use your debit card. There is also an option for daily balance notifications where Chime will send a notification each morning. You can also block your card instantly if it goes missing or you suspect unauthorized use.

The Chime debit card can be used for free at ATMs on the MoneyPass and Allpoint networks. This includes over 60,000 ATMs at stores such as Walgreens, CVS, 7-Eleven, Dollar General and Circle K. You can also request cash back when using your debit card at certain stores. You can make free cash deposits at Walgreens locations by swiping your debit card at the register. Other locations may charge a fee for cash deposits. The app and website have an ATM map feature that is very easy to use.

One negative is that Chime does charge $2.50 every time you use an ATM outside of the MoneyPass or Allpoint networks. This fee would be in addition to any fee charged by the ATM so it can become quite expensive to withdraw cash from out of network ATMs. Use the Chime ATM map to ensure you are not paying these fees.

SpotMe

U.S. Banks charge customers over $11 billion in fees every single year for overdrafts and non-sufficient funds! Chime's answer to this is a no fee overdraft protection program they call SpotMe.

You can enroll in SpotMe after you activate your debit card and receive your first monthly $200 direct deposit. You will start with a $20 limit that will allow you to overdraw your account up to $20 on debit card purchases and cash withdrawals. Your next deposit will be applied to your negative balance and no overdraft fee will be charged. If you have reached your SpotMe limit, then your debit card or cash withdrawal transaction will be declined. There is no fee for declining transactions or for utilizing SpotMe.

You will need to continue receiving $200 in monthly direct deposits to remain in the program. Chime may raise your SpotMe limit up to $200 based on your Chime account history, direct deposit frequency and amount, spending activity and other factors. Also, you will get 4 boosts every month that you can send to friends to increase their SpotMe limit by $5.

Measuring by our first guideline “Don't Pay Fees”, we think SpotMe is a great improvement compared to overdraft fees, non-sufficient fund (NSF) fees and even payday loans. The social aspects of the SpotMe boosts are also very interesting!

Pay Anyone

Chime has its own pay anyone feature similar to Zelle, CashApp or Venmo. With Chime, you can send money instantly for free whether the other person has Chime or not. If the recipient is not currently a chime member, they will receive an email or text with a link to claim the transfer funds. Then they can either enter a debit card or open a Chime account to get the money instantly. No one will be charged a fee to send or receive money with Pay Anyone.

Savings

Chime requires you to open the checking account first before you can take advantage of 2.00% annual percentage yield (APY) in the savings account. You won't be able to deposit directly to your savings account. Instead, deposits will have to go to your checking account first before they can transfer to your savings account. Transfers from checking to savings are instant.

Once you activate the savings account, you can also use two automatic savings features. The first is called “Save When You Spend” or “Round Ups” and allows you to can save money every time you make a purchase or pay a bill with your debit card. Transactions are automatically rounded up to the nearest dollar and the Round Up is transferred from your checking account into your savings account. The second automatic savings feature is called “Save When I Get Paid” and it helps you automatically save a percentage of every paycheck. You can automatically transfer up to 10% of your direct deposit of $500 or more into your Savings Account.

The automatic savings features and instant transfers are very nice, but we wish the savings interest rate was higher to be more competitive with other fintechs and online banks. However, 2.00% APY is much more than traditional banks are offering.

Chime Credit Builder Visa Credit Card

Chime currently offers only one credit card that it calls the Chime Credit Builder Visa. This is a secured credit card with no credit check to apply, no annual fee, no interest, no pre-set credit limit and no minimum security deposit. Secured credit cards are a great tool to build or repair your credit history and your credit score. The Chime Credit Builder Visa is the most flexible secured credit card option we have found.

Again, Chime requires you to open the checking account first and they also require you to have a qualifying direct deposit of $200 or more within the last 365 days before you can apply for the Credit Builder card. Once you open your Credit Builder account, you may experience a temporary credit score decrease due to this new account impacting your average age of open accounts on your credit history.

Once your Credit Builder account is open, Chime will ask you to transfer security deposit money into Credit Builder that will be held in a secured account as collateral for your Credit Builder card. Chime will allow you to spend up to this amount on your card. The security deposit money will be used to pay off your charges at the end of every month. You will have to make more security deposit transfers to Credit Builder to continue using the credit card each month.

By using the Credit Builder Visa card, Chime will report your payment history to all 3 credit bureaus (Experian, Transunion, and Equifax) to help you build your credit history and credit score. Credit Builder doesn't report utilization because it doesn't have a preset limit. This means, you don't have to worry about a bad mark on your credit report because of a high utilization rate on this card.