Chime: the fastest growing challenger bank in the US
Earlier this month, Chime featured in our top 10 fintech disruptors. As Chime announces its sharp increase in valuation, we return to the challenger bank to see what makes it so successful.
Chime, one of the many challenger banks taking over the payment scene, has seen a skyrocket in its market valuation following its most recent fundraising round. In this round, it raised US$500mn, totalling the digital-only bank at $5.8bn, a $4.3bn increase from March 2019. This is the largest round of funding since NuBank raised $400m.
Chime was first created with the mission of encouraging smart spending and saving. Earlier this year it acquired unicorn status following a US$200mn fundraiser, which placed it ahead of its competitors in the US as one of the fastest-growing challenger banks. With its recent fundraising round, it has positioned itself as a leading challenger, with a user base of over 5 million. Some of the key features that draw users in include its no-hidden-fees banking and an automatic savings account. In addition to this, it lets users get paid early thanks to its instant direct deposits. With the money acquired in this latest round, it will employ more staff, as well as opening its Chicago office.
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About Chris Britt 
Chris Britt, co-founded Chime in 2013 with CTO Ryan King. When discussing the latest fundraising round, Britt said: “It's a combination of things. The opportunity to improve the way banking works in America is huge. Combine that with the fact that we created a suite of products that is really resonating with a large segment of America.”
“It's about continuing to do more of the same which is investing to build out an amazingly talented team so we can continue to build products that help our members achieve financial peace of mind,” he said.
Did you know?
According to Business Insider, Chime is the largest single equity challenger bank.
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