US mobile banking start-up Chime rings in $200m funding
San Francisco-based mobile banking challenger Chime is now valued at $1.5 billion thanks to its latest raise of $200 million.
Plans to launch new products
The funding round was led by venture capital firm DST Global with participation from new investors General Atlantic, Coatue, ICONIQ Capital and Dragoneer Investment Group. Existing investors Forerunner Ventures, Cathay Innovation, Menlo Ventures and others also participated.
This follows on from June 2018, when it raised $70 million in Series C financing led by Menlo.
The firm will use the investment to launch new products in credit building and short-term lending, chief executive and founder Chris Britt told Reuters in an interview.
It currently offers checking (current) and savings accounts, and a debit card.
In another interview with CNBC, Chime explains that it also plans to expand its current 120-person team to 200 by the end of the year. In the past year the bank hired Brian Mullins, the former head of risk ops at Square, and Aaron Plante, the former business unit leader for student loans at SoFi.
Chime has no minimum deposit and charges no monthly service fees, There are also no fees for transfers and foreign transactions. It says it has more than three million bank accounts.
It was founded in 2014 and offers its banking services through a partnership with The Bancorp Bank.
Chime is having a good time, but there are many other challenger banks in the US. Our handy list is here.
