Chime Financial, Inc.

Chime was founded by Chris Britt and Ryan King in 2012 in San Francisco, California, as an alternative to traditional banking to serve less affluent communities and people living paycheck to paycheck. The company launched on April 15, 2014, on the Dr. Phil Show.

One of Chime's early growth drivers was its introduction of early paycheck access, which advanced funds to customers based on ACH payment notifications rather than waiting for official settlement.

In January 2020, Chime announced a partnership with the Dallas Mavericks as their jersey sponsor as a part of a multi-year deal. Chime had 8 million account holders in February 2020.

In April 2020, in response to the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chime announced a pilot program to provide users who e-filed tax returns with the IRS a $1,200 advance on the Economic Stimulus Payment via SpotMe, Chime's fee-free overdraft product. Chime later announced the successful processing of over $375 million in stimulus payments one week before the scheduled government disbursement date.

In August 2021, Chime Financial raised $750 million in a series G funding round, led by investor Sequoia Capital Global Equities, giving the company a valuation of about $25 billion.

In September 2021, Chime leased 192,000 square feet of office space across six floors in a San Francisco building owned by Hines.

In 2022, Chime was named one of Fortune 's Best Places to Work. According to a report by Forbes, Chime had planned to hold an initial public offering (IPO) in March 2022. The company delayed its IPO, however, in February 2022. Chime laid off 160 positions, equalling 12% of its workforce, in November 2022.

Chime's revenue in 2023 was approximately $1.3 billion. The company's customers were largely made up of young Americans with incomes ranging from $35,000 to $65,000 annually.

By May 2024, the company, which operated under a hybrid work model, reported having 1,300 employees and 7 million customers. At the time, it was processing $8 billion worth of transactions monthly. Chime was also named to the 2024 CNBC Disruptor 50 list.

Chime issued publicly traded stock on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol “CHYM” in June 2025. Chime went public on June 12 after raising $864 million in its IPO, valuing the company at $18.4 billion.

As of October 2025 [update], Chime has an 'A+' rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), with 8,000 customer complaints during the previous 3 years.

In February 2026, Chime entered a multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer, becoming the league's official retail banking, credit card, and debit card partner. In April 2026, Chime was named among “America’s Most Trustworthy Companies” by Newsweek as well as ranked on Time100 ’s “Most Influential Companies”.

In September 2026, Chime agreed to acquire Stride Bank, N.A., its banking partner since 2019, for $590 million in cash. The transaction is structured as an acquisition of Central Service Corporation, Stride's parent company. If completed, Stride will become Chime Bank, N.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chime. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory and other approvals.

Operations

Chime is not a bank. It is able to offer its services via its relationships with banks; customer funds are routed to a chartered bank. FDIC insurance of up to $250,000 is available to users via the partnered banks, not directly through Chime, so customers are not protected against some failures. Chime has no physical branches and does not charge monthly or overdraft fees, nor does it require an opening deposit or minimum balance to open a free checking account. Accounts are only available to individuals; all money received must be in the name of the individual account owner. Customers cannot appeal to banking regulators to retrieve their deposits, which may not be returned in a timely fashion. Most of its revenue comes from interchange fees on debit card transactions.