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Last updated on January 3rd, 2022
Chime Credit Builder Visa® Secured Credit Card
No Fees or Interest
- Regular Purchase APR See Terms
- Cash Advance APR See Terms
- Annual Fee None
- Credit Needed Fair , Poor
- Processing Network Visa
- No annual fee or interest
- No credit check performed when applying
- No minimum security deposit required
- Ideal for everyday purchases to help build credit with regular on-time payments
- Regular Purchase APR: See Terms
- Cash Advance APR: See Terms
- Cash Advance Transaction Fee: $2.50 per transaction
Offer Details
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At a Glance
The Chime Credit Builder Visa® Secured Credit Card is a credit-builder product from Chime – a fintech that offers an assortment of financial products and services with no hidden fees. The secured card functions harmoniously with Chime’s other banking products, including their high-yield savings account.
Ideal for Those Who:
- Are seeking to build their credit score
- Don’t want the hassle of a minimum security deposit
- Want access to high yield savings to help their money grow
- Hate hidden fees
Chime Banking and Credit Builder Visa® Secured Credit Card Review
Chime is a fintech neobank that offers many banking services, including high-yield savings, checking, and credit-builder accounts. The credit-builder account also includes a secured charge card: the Chime Credit Builder Visa® Secured Credit Card.
Chime Banking
Grow Your Finances with High Yield Savings
Chime offers users accelerated savings versus most other banks. Users enjoy access to a 0.50% APY high yield savings account, which is significantly higher than what most other banks provide. Discover, for example, currently offers 0.44% APY on its savings product.
Fee-Free Overdraft
One of the best features of the Chime account is the $200 overdraft protection it offers. This fee-free, optional service provides up to $200 in overdraft protection through Spot Me.
However, keep in mind that Spot Me only applies when the account holder makes $500 in qualifying direct deposits to the Chime Spending Account each month. Initially, members have overdraft protection of $20 – an amount that will increase over time.
No Hidden Fees
Beyond fee-free overdraft protection, Chime also touts “no hidden fees.” No hidden fees mean Chime savings and spending account holders don’t have to worry about:
- Minimum balance requirements
- Monthly service fees
- Overdraft fees
- Foreign transaction fees
Accountholders will pay out-of-network fees for using ATMs outside of the 38,000 in-network locations, plus potential fees on third-party purchases or deposits. Unfortunately, that out-of-network fee is $2.50, which is frustrating. Fortunately, the 38,000 network ATMs are on par with many other banks and credit unions – though it trails the 55,000+ of the Aspiration Debit Card.
Chime Credit Builder Visa® Secured Credit Card
Chime offers a spending account, a savings account, and a credit-builder account. The latter of these accounts operates similarly to the Self Visa in that it allows users to use funds to open a secured credit card account.
The Chime Credit Builder Visa® Secured Credit Card is unique in that it is a secured charge card. Charge cards and credit cards appear similar, but they differ in how users repay the balance. Unlike a credit card where you can carry a balance, charge cards require the full balance be paid every month or face financial penalties, including late fees and penalty APR.
Payments with the Chime Credit Builder Visa are made with the funds the user moves from their Chime savings account automatically, meaning users never have to worry about late fees or missed payments – their credit limit is their credit-builder account balance. If you add money to your credit builder account you can raise your credit limit – it’s that easy. This process means users can expect their FICO credit score to rise as much as 30 points, on average – opening up the opportunities for more lucrative rewards credit cards down the line.
Keep in mind that Credit-Builder and the Chime Credit Builder Visa® Secured Credit Card are only available to Chime savings account holders who meet eligible direct deposit requirements. According to Chime, this means applicants need to have received a qualifying direct deposit of $200 or more to their Spending Account within the last 365 days of your application.
Chime Availability
Chime is currently available in all 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia.
FAQs About Chime
- No. There are no annual or monthly fees involved with Chime.
Both. Chime offers both a standard plastic credit card and a unique, all-metal card design for completing a spending target.
Chime Card Ratings
How does the Chime Card by M1 stack up? Here are a selection of expert reviews for the card:
User Testimonials
What is Chime like to live with? Before deciding if the card is right for you, here’s what our readers and members think about the card:
Should You Consider Opening a Chime Account?
The value of a Chime account really depends on the user. The high-yield savings, for example, is competitive but not exceptional.
As mentioned, Discover also offers a similar APY on savings, which can be easily combined with a Discover Cashback Checking account that earns 1% cash back on all purchases. Similarly, Aspiration offers an APY as high as 1% on the Aspiration Plan Card, but with the added charge of $7.99 per month.
Chime’s spending account benefits from up to $200 in overdraft protection and no hidden fees, but lags behind other programs due to its lack of cash back rewards. Still, it does provide great value for the protection offered and the expansive nature of the Chime ATM network.
The Chime Credit Builder Visa® Secured Credit Card is the exciting member of the Chime family. The card is unique because it is a charge card ties to a direct deposit, meaning cardholders won’t have to worry about late fees or missed payments. Even better, Chime regularly reports payment history to the major credit bureaus. This regular reporting is essential for building a good credit score – something the Chime Secured Visa has been shown to do overtime.
