Personal Finance News
Chime Introduces Chime+ Premium Membership Tier
The popular neobank Chime has announced a new premium tier that customers can unlock for free.
About Chime+:
Today, Chime announced that it would be rolling out new features as part of a premium membership tier called Chime+. This enhanced tier will be available to those who set up a qualifying direct deposit of at least $200 per month (every 34 days).
The first Chime+ feature that members can enjoy is a higher interest rate on savings. While all Chime customers can currently earn 2% APY on savings, Chime+ customers can now earn 3.75% APY. Additionally, premium members will have access to new and exclusive cashback offers from top retailers. These deals will be in addition to those offered to all Chime customers. Lastly, Chime+ members enjoy priority support with expedited response times when compared to those with general accounts.
These new features join existing offerings that were available to those with direct deposit, such as MyPay and SpotMe. With MyPay, customers can access up to $500 of their pay before payday. Meanwhile, SpotMe enables users to overdraft by up to $200 without fees.
More Chime News:
The launch of Chime+ comes on the heels of another feature debut for the neobank: Instant Loans. Initially, pre-approved Chime users will be able to request loans of up to $100 — although this can rise up to $500 over time. A finance charge of 5% is applied to Instant Loans and customers will pay back these loans in monthly installments over a three-month period. Chime notes that customers can also pay off their loans early in order to pay less in interest.
What They’re Saying:
Announcing Chime+, the neobank’s Chief Product Officer Madhu Muthukumar said, “When Americans are looking for better alternatives to their current banking solutions, they are continuing to turn to Chime. That’s because for a decade, Chime has been focused on building and delivering affordable, easy-to-use products that address the most critical financial needs of everyday Americans — helping people get ahead instead of weighing them down with punitive fees. With today’s launches, we’re making it even easier for our members to manage their money and grow their credit.”
My Thoughts:
Chime’s introduction of Chime+ happens to follow SoFi’s launch of SoFi Plus last month (note that SoFi’s “Plus” is written out whereas Chime is using the symbol). Comparing the two products, there are some similarities, such as increased APY. Additionally, both premium options are unlocked via direct deposit — although SoFi does also offer an option to pay for a subscription. However, a core differentiator is the SoFi Wealth financial planning sessions that SoFi offers. Then again, Chime says that these announced perks are just the initial offerings, so perhaps we’ll see an expansion there.
Seeing as many neobanks already offer bonus perks to customers who sign up for direct deposit, it seems inevitable that rebranding these benefits as a premium tier of service will be a new trend. In particular, I’d expect to see Varo Bank and the like embrace such branding in the coming weeks. That’s just my guess — but we’ll see how right I end up being.
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