Chime Checking Account

What it is

An app-based checking account offered by Chime, a fintech, with deposits held at The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank. It has no monthly fee and no opening deposit, and Chime says it does not run a credit check to open it. It fits people who want a debit-card account without checks and can manage everything in an app.^2,3

Does Chime use ChexSystems?

Chime says it doesn't use ChexSystems to open this account. Chime's own guide to ChexSystems (on chime.com, dated Aug 12, 2026) says some banks, including Chime, do not use ChexSystems at all. The deposit account agreement does not name ChexSystems but says Chime may use information from third parties to help decide whether to open a Checking Account.¹

Chime says there's no credit check to apply.

Fees and overdraft

Monthly fee

$0. No monthly service fee and no minimum balance fee. Out-of-network ATM withdrawals cost $2.50 each, and some retailers charge for cash deposits.^2,3,4

Minimum to open

$0

Overdraft

Without SpotMe, card purchases that exceed the balance are declined and there are no overdraft fees. SpotMe is optional: it requires $200 or more in qualifying direct deposits each month and an activated physical Chime debit card or Credit Builder card. Limits start at $20 and can rise to $200 or more. SpotMe doesn't cover ACH transfers, Pay Anyone transfers or Chime Checkbook payments, and Chime charges no fee for it.

ATMs

Chime says members can use over 47,000 fee-free ATMs (Allpoint, Visa Plus Alliance, and FCTI ATMs in 7-Eleven stores); $2.50 per out-of-network withdrawal, plus any operator fee.

Early direct deposit

Yes

Who can open it

Opened online or in the app. Applicants must be 18 or older and a U.S. citizen or legal resident, with a valid SSN, a U.S. mobile number and a residential street address (no P.O. boxes). The card agreement limits cardholders to people living in the 50 states.

Deposit insurance: Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank, and is not itself FDIC-insured. Banking services and deposits are held by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC; coverage is up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category.

If you've been denied before

• If a bank or credit union turns you down because of a checking account report, it must send you an "adverse action" notice with the name and contact information of the reporting company it used.^6,7
• By law, you can get a free copy of your checking account report once every 12 months, and you are also entitled to a free copy if a bank turns you down because of it.^8,9
• If your checking account report has an error, you have the right to dispute it with the reporting company and with the bank or credit union that supplied the information. Under the FCRA, companies must investigate disputes free of charge.^8,9,10
• The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) says negative information generally stays on ChexSystems and Early Warning Services reports for five years.¹¹

ChexSystems, explained