Chime Credit Builder Visa Secured Credit Card Review

Snapshot

• No annual fee or interest charges
• No credit check required to apply
• No minimum security deposit
• A Chime Spending Account (also free) is required

Editorial Review

The Chime Credit Builder Visa® Secured Credit Card is, simply put, one of the best secured credit cards you’ll find today. It charges no fees or interest. And unlike most secured cards, it doesn’t come with a minimum security deposit.

How the Chime Credit Builder Card Works

The Chime Credit Builder Visa is unique in that the first step is open a Chime Spending Account. The Spending Account is an FDIC-insured checking account. It comes with a free debit card and an award-winning mobile app.

Once you’ve set up a Chime account, you can apply for the Chime Credit Builder Visa® Secured Credit Card inside the Chime app. Here’s where the Chime Credit Builder Visa shines in our opinion. You determine the credit limit of the card based on how much money you transfer from your Chime account over to the card.

Once you’ve transferred funds to the card, the amount transferred becomes your credit limit. The card can be used anywhere that accepts Visa, including online or over the phone. The balance on the card then gets paid with the money you had already transferred to the card.

Finally, Chime reports the payments to the three major credit reporting bureaus, Transunion, Experian, and Equifax.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• No annual fee or interest
• No credit check required to apply
• No open or minimum security deposit
• No foreign transaction fees
• Reports to all three major credit bureaus

Cons

• No cash back or travel rewards

Features and Benefits

• Visa Zero Liability Policy: protects card holders from being responsible for any unauthorized charges
• Safer Credit Building: With this feature, your balance will be paid automatically every month and on time.
• Credit Limit: Set your own credit limit based on how much you transfer from your Chime Spending Account to the Chime Visa card.
• Build Credit: Chime reports your transactions to Transunion, Experian, and Equifax.

Who the card is best for

The Chime Credit Builder Visa® Secured Credit Card is ideal for those who want to re-establish their credit. Combined with Chime’s Spending Account, it enables cardholders to set their own credit limit. They do this by transferring funds from their Spending Account to the Chime Visa card, all through the Chime mobile app.

The Chime Visa does not pay cash back or other rewards. As such, the card is not ideal for those with fair, good or excellent credit. With established credit, one can qualify for a card that pays rewards.

Alternatives

Within the secured credit card space, there are a few cards that charge no annual fee. Some even offer cash back rewards. What these alternatives do not offer, however, is the ability to determine your own credit limit by transferring funds via a mobile app. In this regard, Chime offers flexibility that is unique among secured credit cards.

If flexibility isn’t important to you, a cash back secured card may be a better option. Here are some alternatives:

Discover Secured it: This card pays 2% cash back on up to $1,000 in purchases each quarter ($20 in rewards). It charges no annual fee, but requires a minimum security deposit of $200.

Bank of America Cash Back Secured Credit Card: This card pays up to 3% cash back, subject to spending caps each quarter. It also requires a minimum security deposit of $300. It charges no annual fee.

Secured Credit Card from Capital One: While this card doesn’t pay cash back rewards, it comes with no annual fee and a security deposit as lows as $49 (although it could be $99 or $200, based on the application process).

Approval Odds

Credit card companies consider a number of factors when evaluating an application. These factors may include income, debt, existing credit cards and, of course, the applicant's credit score.

While credit card issuers do not publish the criteria for approval, we collect publicly available data on credit scores for those who have been either approved or denied for a credit card. Keep in mind that we cannot verify this information and an issuer's credit score requirements can change over time.

Because it's a secured card, approval odds are high for the [card_url]. You will need to verify your identity with a social security number, but no credit check is performed or required to obtain this card.