The Chime Card is a secured card with no deposit, no annual fees and 0% APR.
Chime is a fintech with banking services. The Chime Card (formerly the Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card) is a unique option for credit building and can be very convenient for existing Chime customers. It has no annual fee and doesn’t require a hard credit check for approval. The card uses your Chime® Checking Account to set your spending limit, so you can’t spend more than what you have, and you must pay your owed balance each month, so there’s no interest. While it could be great for building credit with a significantly lower risk of debt than traditional credit lines, it lacks rewards. And because of how the card is designed, it isn’t suited for emergencies.
Best for: Existing Chime customers who want to build credit history.
The Chime Card (formerly the Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card) works differently than traditional secured cards. Instead of requiring an upfront deposit to establish your credit limit and provide security, you can only spend what you choose to transfer to the Chime Card from your Chime Checking Account.
Since you can only spend what you’ve deposited, you significantly reduce the risk of overspending or accumulating debt. On top of that, the card requires you to pay your owed balance each month, so there’s no interest, either.
Chime’s secured card is simple, has no credit check and doesn’t charge interest, making it a solid option for beginners seeking their first credit card or those aiming to build credit history without the risk of debt.
Chime is known for minimal fees on its banking products, and this card is no exception. The Chime Card has no annual fees, no membership fees, no interest charges and no foreign transaction fees.
Chime reports your on-time payments to all three major credit bureaus, helping you build credit history all the way around.
This benefit is especially worth calling out, considering many similar products may not report to all three major bureaus. For example, the Experian Boost® service only reports to Experian. So, while Experian Boost® could help boost your credit score, it would only matter if a lender used your Experian credit file to generate your credit score.
Most credit cards, secured and unsecured, review your credit history when you apply. If you have a poor credit history, it can be challenging to get your hands on a credit card. But Chime doesn’t perform a hard credit check when you apply, and there’s no minimum credit score requirement.
Its simplicity can make it great for beginners, but its lack of rewards and limited features may not appeal to everyone.
You can’t use this card unless you already have or open a Chime Checking Account. Additionally, because of how the card functions, you can’t carry a balance to build credit over time, and features like balance transfers and cash back are not available.
And unfortunately, unlike many credit cards, the card doesn’t offer cash back, points or miles.
If you’re an experienced credit card holder or already have a stellar credit score, consider other rewards credit cards for perks like cash back or miles.
There’s no guarantee that a credit-building product can improve your credit rating. Missed or late payments can harm your credit score. To ensure the Chime Card card works as intended, stay on top of your payments to avoid credit score damage.
Narrow down top down credit-building options by features, fees and more. For a better comparison, tick the Compare box on multiple providers to see benefits side by side.
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How we picked theseThe Finder Score crunches over 30 credit-building cards and products from dozens of financial institutions and fintech companies. It takes into account the product's monthly fees, reporting practices, eligibility requirements, rewards programs, APR and features — this gives you a simple score out of 10. To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts only consider credit-building cards that report to the major credit bureaus as “credit-building cards.” If a card that claims it can build credit does not have any reporting practices, it is not considered a credit-building card and isn’t scored.
There aren’t a ton of fees to worry about with Chime’s secured card.
| Type of Fee | Fee Details |
|---|---|
| Monthly or annual fee | $0 |
| Minimum deposit | None (uses Spending Account balance) |
| Credit score | No minimum required |
| APR | 0% |
| ATMs |
|
| Foreign transaction fee | 0% |
| Overdraft or NSF | $0 |
| BBB accredited | No |
|---|---|
| BBB rating | B- |
| BBB customer reviews | 4.23 out of 5 stars, based on 2437 customer reviews |
| Trustpilot score | 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 10,509 customer reviews |
| Customer reviews verified as of | 29 May 2025 |
In the realm of customer feedback, Chime has had a rough go of it.
A few years back, Chime had an issue with incorrectly flagging accounts for fraud, leading to problems for customers: frozen accounts, account closures and so on. During and after these incidents, negative reviews poured in for Chime. However, Chime has worked to resolve its fraud detection mishaps, and the volume of negative reviews has tapered off.
On app stores, Chime does well, earning 4.8 stars on the Apple App Store and 4.7 stars on Google Play. Users praise the secured card’s simplicity and ease of use but occasionally mention delays in payment reporting.
On Reddit and the Better Business Bureau (BBB), customers highlight the card’s straightforward features but occasionally express frustration about its limited functionality compared to traditional cards.
No, Chime is not a bank. It’s a fintech company with banking partners: The Bancorp Bank, N.A. and Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.
Yes, the card is secured. However, while most secured cards are backed by a cash deposit, the Chime Secured Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card is backed by the Chime Checking account.
The Chime Card doesn’t have a set credit limit, unlike traditional credit cards. Your limit depends on how much you transfer from your Chime Checking account, which can be up to $10,000. You can check how much you can spend with the card within the app under “Available to Spend.”
Bethany Finder
Banking editor
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