Chime Credit Builder Review: A Secured Card With Guardrails
The Bottom Line
4.6
The card is basically debt-proof, but you'll have to be OK with opening a Chime account. Also note that there are no rewards or upgrade paths, and other unsecured cards you may get later won't provide the same training wheels.
Rates, fees and offers
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
N/A
Bonus offer
N/A
Intro APR
N/A
Ongoing APR
None
Foreign transaction fee
0%
More details from Chime
- The secured Chime Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa credit cards are accepted. Please see the back of your card for its issuing bank.
- No credit check to apply, no annual fees or interest⁴, and no minimum security deposit required.³ No stress! Additional terms apply.
- Use your secured Credit Builder card everywhere Visa credit cards are accepted, including on everyday purchases, such as gas and groceries.
- Help build your credit history with your own money. The money you move into the Credit Builder secured account is the amount you can spend on your card (no minimum deposit required!).³ Turn on Safer Credit Building² and have your monthly balance automatically paid on time. Chime will report your activities to Transunion®, Experian®, and Equifax®.
- Increase your credit scores by an average of 30 points, with regular, on-time payments.¹
- Turn on transaction notifications to receive real-time transaction alerts. Then, use Chime’s instant in-app disable card feature to help prevent unauthorized activities.
- Live support 24/7 to assist you around the clock.
- Now you can use your Credit Builder card fee-free at over 60K+ in-network ATMs at retailers like Walgreens®, CVS®, and more! Out-of-network ATM withdrawal fees may apply except at Moneypass ATMs in 7-Eleven® locations, or any Allpoint® or Visa Plus Alliance ATMs.
- Apply for a secured Chime Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card once you have an active Chime Checking Account. See www.chime.com to learn more.
Pros and Cons
Pros
No annual fee
No credit check to apply
No APR
Adjustable credit limit
Cons
Must open a Chime Checking Account
No rewards
No upgrade path
Detailed Review
The Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card shares the same purpose as traditional secured credit cards: It can help you build a credit history if you have no credit or bad credit.
But the similarities end there because the $0-annual-fee card, issued by Stride Bank, requires no minimum security deposit, and it even lets you adjust your credit limit. There's no credit check necessary either, and perhaps even more surprisingly, it doesn’t charge interest; you essentially set money aside in advance to pay your credit card bill. In some ways, it resembles a reloadable prepaid debit card, except that it reports your activity to the credit bureaus.
These kinds of unique features can certainly help you along your credit journey, but you'll have to be willing to open an account with Chime®. Plus, the card’s guardrails could leave you unprepared to manage other kinds of credit products later on. And on that topic, there's no upgrade path to a traditional, unsecured, rewards-earning card once you're ready.
On July 6, 2021, the nonprofit news organization ProPublica reported that Chime customers had their accounts closed without notice, leaving them without access to funds. In ProPublica’s report, Chime said many account closures were linked to fraud, but it also admitted that several of the closures had been mistakes. If your account is closed by Chime or other neobanks without notice, there are some steps you can take to potentially remedy the situation. Act quickly by contacting the neobank to explain the situation. And, if you aren't helped by the neobank, you may file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card: Basics
Card type: Secured.
Annual fee: $0.
Security deposit: No minimum security deposit is required. The money you transfer from your Chime Checking Account to your Credit Builder secured account is how much you can spend with the card.
Bonus: None.
Rewards: None.
APR: N/A.
Foreign transaction fee: None.
Other perks:
No credit check to apply.
Payments reported to the three main credit bureaus.
How the Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card works
To have the Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card, you must open a Chime Checking Account. Instead of a one-time security deposit that becomes your credit limit, you “assign” money to your Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card by moving it from your Chime Checking Account to your Credit Builder secured account — which you can do on the Chime app. You can move money back into your Chime Checking Account through the Chime app if you need access to cash, and you can use your Chime ATM card to withdraw money.
Compare to Other Cards
Benefits and Perks
No credit check
Most credit cards — even secured ones — will conduct a hard inquiry on your credit report when you apply, which helps the card's issuer evaluate your creditworthiness. Even if you're then approved for the card, these hard pulls can temporarily ding your credit scores by a few points, which isn't ideal if you're new to credit. But the Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card does not check your credit when you apply, meaning it's a good fit for those with poor credit or no credit.
Adjustable credit limit
The money you move from your Chime Checking Account to your Credit Builder secured account is the amount you can spend on your card. You can move money automatically every time you get paid, or you can move money manually. Money transfers are nearly instant, taking around a minute. You can use the Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card to make purchases wherever Visa is accepted. Other secured credit cards have set credit limits, and you may have to use the card for several months before becoming eligible for a credit limit increase.
No interest charges
The Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card charges no interest because it doesn’t let you spend more than what you have available in your Credit Builder secured account. In some ways, it’s a credit card that bears similarities to a reloadable prepaid debit card. This is helpful because you can’t get into credit card debt with this card. Other secured credit cards charge high interest rates, making it possible to take on expensive debt at a time when you’re trying to establish a credit history.
Maxing out the card won’t affect your credit score
Your credit utilization isn’t reported to credit bureaus, so you don’t have to be mindful of the percentage of your total available money you can spend. But unlike with a prepaid debit card, your payment history and other factors will be reported, so making on-time payments is important. If you miss a payment, your card will be disabled until you pay the balance. And if your payment is more than 30 days late, this will be reported to credit bureaus and can affect your credit scores.
Autopay feature makes on-time payments effortless
The Safer Credit Building feature — which is a variation on the autopay option available on more traditional credit cards — can prevent an accidental missed payment.
Whenever you use the card to buy something, the total purchase amount is put on hold in your Credit Builder secured account. Once your bill is due, the on-hold money is automatically used to pay it. This keeps you from paying late and not having the money available to pay your bill in full.
Drawbacks and Considerations
A Chime Checking Account and direct deposit is required
The link between the Chime Checking Account and the Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card facilitates the card’s unique user experience, but opening an account is still an extra step. Many other secured credit cards also require a bank account in order to fund the security deposit, but the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card can be an option for anyone without a bank account. You can fund the security deposit with a debit card or check, but also with a money order or through Western Union.
» MORE: Is the OpenSky Card legit?
No rewards or sign-up bonus
It used to be pretty rare for a secured credit card to offer rewards, but that's been changing in recent years. Unfortunately, the Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card isn't a part of that trend; it doesn't offer any kind of rewards program.
Of course, when you're working to strengthen your credit, rewards aren't the main priority. But they're nice to have, and they're findable among cards in this class. For instance, the $0-annual-fee Discover it® Secured Credit Card earns 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in purchases each quarter (then 1% back), plus 1% cash back on all other purchases. New cardholders are eligible for a bonus offer, which Discover phrases this way: "INTRO OFFER: Unlimited Cashback Match – only from Discover. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year! There’s no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a dollar-for-dollar match."
No upgrade path
The Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card can help you strengthen your credit, but once that happens, there's no higher-tier card to move to. Hence, there is little reason to continue using this one. If you decide you're ready for a credit card that offers rewards and other benefits, you'll have to open up a brand-new account with an entirely different issuer.
It doesn’t provide practice for managing more traditional cards
The Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card makes it very easy to stick to a budget and pay your credit card bills on time. This is good news for your credit scores, but any credit card you eventually graduate to will function very differently.
Once you start using an unsecured credit card with an interest rate and fees, the training wheels come off in a major way. Revolving credit cards allow you to spend up to your credit limit, make just a small minimum payment while taking on debt and then spend up to the limit again. And if you make a late payment, you could get slapped with a late fee, a higher interest rate and a big dip in your credit scores.
The Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card will certainly help you build credit, but before you apply for another credit card later on, familiarize yourself with how they work.
How To Decide If It's Right For You
If your goal is purely building credit, the Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card removes many of the stumbling blocks that can trip up anyone who is new to using credit cards. But some other starter credit cards offer cash-back rewards, though they charge interest and require a fixed security deposit. You'll have to consider your preferences to determine which option is best. If you do opt for the Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card, know that any unsecured credit cards you use later on will not have the same guardrails.
See more from Chime®
Chime says the following:
The secured Chime Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa credit cards are accepted. Please see the back of your card for its issuing bank.
To apply for Credit Builder, 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). Bank ACH transfers, Pay Anyone transfers, verification or trial deposits from financial institutions, peer to peer transfers from services such as PayPal, Cash App, or Venmo, mobile check deposits, cash deposits, one-time direct deposits, such as tax refunds and other similar transactions, and any deposit to which Chime deems to not be a qualifying direct deposit are not qualifying direct deposits.
Based on a representative study conducted by Experian®, members who made their first purchase with Credit Builder between June 2022 and October 2022 observed an average FICO® Score 8 increase of 30 points after approximately 8 months. On-time payment history can have a positive impact on your credit score. Late payment may negatively impact your credit score.
On-time payment history may have a positive impact on your credit score. Late payment may negatively impact your credit score. Chime will report your activities to Transunion®, Experian®, and Equifax®. Impact on your credit may vary, as Credit scores are independently determined by credit bureaus based on a number of factors including the financial decisions you make with other financial services organizations.
Money added to Credit Builder will be held in a secured account as collateral for your Credit Builder Visa card, which means you can spend up to this amount on your card. This is money you can use to pay off your charges at the end of every month.
Out-of-network ATM withdrawal and OTC advance fees may apply. View The Bancorp agreement or Stride agreement for details; see back of card for issuer.
The Discover it® Secured Credit Card earns 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants on up to $1,000 in purchases each quarter (then 1% back), plus 1% cash back on all other purchases. New cardholders are eligible for a bonus offer, which Discover phrases this way: "INTRO OFFER: Unlimited Cashback Match – only from Discover. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year! There’s no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a dollar-for-dollar match." The annual fee is $0.
Looking For Something Else?
Methodology
NerdWallet reviews credit cards with an eye toward both the quantitative and qualitative features of a card. Quantitative features are those that boil down to dollars and cents, such as fees, interest rates, rewards (including earning rates and redemption values) and the cash value of benefits and perks. Qualitative factors are those that affect how easy or difficult it is for a typical cardholder to get good value from the card. They include such things as the ease of application, simplicity of the rewards structure, the likelihood of using certain features, and whether a card is well-suited to everyday use or is best reserved for specific purchases. Our star ratings serve as a general gauge of how each card compares with others in its class, but star ratings are intended to be just one consideration when a consumer is choosing a credit card. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.
Frequently asked questions
Does Chime have a real credit card?
Chime offers the Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card, a secured credit card issued by Stride Bank. It works differently from other secured cards because you can adjust your credit limit by adding more money to your card, much like a prepaid debit card. Payment history is reported to credit bureaus, which can help you establish credit history.
What is the Chime Credit Builder card limit?
There is no minimum security deposit requirement. You set the credit limit by moving money from your Chime Spending Account to your Credit Builder secured account. Whatever money you move is available to spend.
Can you get a Chime credit card without direct deposit?
No. To get the Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card, you must open a Chime Spending Account that has had at least $200 in direct deposits made to the account within the past 365 days.
Can I add cash to my Chime Credit Builder card?
Yes. You add cash to your card by moving money from your Chime Spending Account to your Chime Credit Builder secured account. The money you move is then available to spend when you use your Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card to make purchases.
Can I withdraw from my Chime Credit Builder card?
Yes. You can move money from your Chime Credit Builder secured account back into your Chime Spending Account. You can also use your Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card at ATMs to withdraw cash.
