Chime Bank

Chime is a financial technology company offering online banking services to its users with no bank fees, and an option to receive direct deposit up to two days early. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California and was founded in 2013 by Chris Britt and Ryan King.

Introduction to Chime.

Banking services

Banking service provider

Banking services offered by Chime are provided by The Bancorp Bank, and Chime offers its users a Chime debit Visa.

Mobile banking application

Chime banking services can be accessed online through their mobile banking application. Their application allows users to track their account balances, daily transactions, and savings. It also allows users to send money and deposit paper checks (up to $5000 per payment and up to $10000 per month). The Chime mobile banking application works integrates with other mobile payment applications such as ApplePay, GooglePay, and SamsungPay.

Direct deposit

Chime's Direct Deposit feature and earlier availability of funds are subject to payer's support of the feature and timing of payer's funding.

No fees

Chime does not charge application, monthly, or international transaction fees to their users. They also do not require users to make an initial deposit after signing up with Chime to activate their bank account. Chime bank offers free ATM access to 38,000 ATMs in the United States, and a $2.50 fee for making withdrawals on ATMs outside of the Chime network.

Savings

The chime mobile banking application allows users a couple different options to increase the amount of money in their savings accounts. They give users an option to round up their transactions to the nearest dollar, and offer a services that transfers %10 of every deposited paycheque into their savings account. Chime savings accounts offer an Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 0.01%.

Security

The Chime bank mobile application meets industry standard banking security, according to the companies website. They offer 128-AES encryption access control, and their Chime debit Visa is protected bu the Visa Zero Liability Policy.

Funding

Seed

On May 30, 2013 Chime completed their seed funding round with $3.8 million in funding from IrishAngels and Amino Capital.

Series A

On November 5, 2014 Chime completed their series A funding round with $8 million in funding from Crosslink Capital (lead investor), PivotNorth Capital, Homebrew, and Forerunner Ventures. On May 19, 2016 Chime expanded their series A funding round with $9 in funding from Aspect Ventures (lead investor), Homebrew, Forerunner Ventures, Crosslink Capital, and Zander Lurie.

Series B

On September 27, 2017 Chime completed their series B funding round with $18 million in funding from Cathay Innovation (lead investor), Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Omidyar Network, Crosslink Capital, Aspect Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, and Homebrew.

Series C

On May 31, 2018 Chime completed their series C funding round with $70 million in funding from Menlo Ventures (lead investor), Opera Tech Ventures, Omidyar Network, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Cathay Ventures, and Aspect Ventures.

Series D

In March 2019, Chime raised $200 million in a round led by DST Global, bringing the company's total funding to $300 million. The company's total valuation is at $1.5 billion, according to the company. Other companies participating in the funding round include: Menlo Ventures, ICONIQ Capital, General Atlantic, Forerunner Ventures, Dragoneer Investment Group, Coatue Management, and Cathay Innovation.

Series E

On December 5, 2019 Chime announced raising $500 million in series E funding from DST Global (lead investor), ICONIQ Capital, General Atlantic, Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, Coatue Management, Access Technology Ventures. At the time of announcing their series E funding Chime had an evaluation of $5.8 billion. The company plans on using their series E funding to develop new products, double its workforce, and open a new office in Chicago, Illinois.