How do you get a chime credit card

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Chime is a nontraditional technology company offering access to basic services like checking, savings and credit accounts. The Secured Chime Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card advertises a path to build a healthy credit history—a similar claim other secured cards share. Cardholders must make a deposit to the secured card in order to set a credit limit and can then make everyday purchases. Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.

Chime’s Visa Secured card stands out for a few reasons.

1. Prospective Cardholders Must Meet the Minimum Deposit Requirement

Before you can apply for the Credit Builder card, you must have received a single qualifying direct deposit of $200 or more to your Chime Checking Account*. The qualifying direct deposit must be from your employer, payroll provider, gig economy payer, or benefits payer by Automated Clearing House (ACH) deposit or Original Credit Transaction (OCT). Once the deposit is confirmed a Chime customer can apply for a Credit Builder secured account and receive a Visa credit card with no credit check or minimum deposit required. 

One important note: Bank-to-bank ACH deposits, Pay Anyone transfers, verification or trial deposits from financial institutions, mobile check deposits, cash loads or deposits, one-time direct deposits, such as tax refunds and other similar transactions and peer-to-peer payments using apps like Venmo and Cash App don’t qualify as eligible direct deposits. So, plan accordingly if you hope to apply for this card.

2. Chime Doesn’t Run Credit Checks for Approval

Chime lists its mission as affording everyone the opportunity to build great credit in a volatile market. Chime doesn’t require a credit check to be approved and thus no minimum credit score is required.

Chime’s Visa secured card encourages, perhaps indirectly, applications from those with bad credit or too many recent rejections from multiple credit card applications. Several hard credit checks done in a short period of time can hurt a credit score and negatively impact borrower approval rates.

3. Chime Doesn’t Charge Fees for Using Credit Builder, Doesn’t Offer Rewards

Like some credit builder cards, Chime doesn’t charge annual, international or maintenance fees. Unlike most credit cards Chime also doesn’t charge cardholders any interest on purchases. This could be a huge perk for cardholders hoping to get a break from paying high interest fees.

Cardholders won’t benefit from any rewards or welcome bonuses common with other credit cards. Chime doesn’t offer benefits like cash back, points or promotional cash deposits. If rewards or bonuses are more important than having no interest, Chime isn’t the best option.

4. It’s Not a Typical Secured Credit Card

Secured credit cards usually require a minimum deposit of a few hundred dollars to open an account. The deposit becomes the card’s credit limit that the cardholder uses to make purchases. Secured deposits aren’t accessible to the cardholder until the entire balance is paid off and the account is closed.

Chime is different. Cardholders don’t have to make a minimum security deposit to open an account. They can transfer money into their secured account at any time. Each transfer becomes part of the spending limit for the month. At the end of the billing cycle, the money transferred is used to cover all the purchases. Cardholders can budget and keep track of how much they spend, but it can get out of control if the cardholder frequently transfers money over to make up for large purchases.

5. Chime Can Help Build Credit History, but It’s Not for Everyone

Chime reports account activity to all three credit bureaus. Cardholders looking to build better credit can establish on-time payment behavior and lengthen a credit history. (Note that late payments can still negatively affect a credit score.)

Chime’s unique account design means cardholders don’t have a pre-set credit limit. The money available to spend depends on how much cardholders transfer into their Credit Builder accounts. Chime doesn’t report credit utilization to credit bureaus at all, so worrying about only spending 30% of the available credit or less won’t be a concern. This is good news for cardholders who have a habit of overspending close to a credit limit or cardholders who don’t want more cash in their Credit Builder account than they need to spend that month.

Because Chime is so unique, cardholders new to credit cards may have to re-learn how to budget credit card spending when moving on to a different card. Most credit cards have high interest rates that accrue if the balance isn’t paid off every month. Cardholders have to be mindful of credit utilization, which can have a large impact on credit scores.

Bottom Line

Chime’s Credit Builder Visa secured card may be a good option for cardholders who need to rebuild bad credit or start building credit history from scratch. There’s $0 annual fee and no interest charges on any purchases. Chime doesn’t have a minimum credit score requirement—in fact, the company doesn’t run credit checks at all.

Similar to other secured credit cards, cardholders set credit limits by depositing (or using a direct deposit to add funds) to a Credit Builder account. However, cardholders must set up direct deposit before applying for the Credit Builder Visa credit card.

On-time payments and easy budgeting with Chime’s mobile app will help beginners start building credit history, but they should make sure to research how regular credit cards work once ready to move on.

*Disclosures

Will chime give me a credit card?

How do I qualify for chime credit?

How do I get a chime credit builder card?

How much credit is in a chime card?