Secured Chime Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card Review

Snapshot

• No annual fee or interest charges
• No credit check required to apply
• No minimum security deposit²
• A Chime Checking Account is required to be eligible to apply³

Editorial Review

The Secured Chime Credit Builder Visa® 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 requirement.²

How the Chime Credit Builder Credit Card Works

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

Once you’ve set up a Chime Checking account and receive a qualifying direct deposit of $200 or more, you can apply for the Secured Chime Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card inside the Chime app³. Here’s where the Credit Builder Credit Card 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 secured account.

Once you’ve transferred funds to the secured account, 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 secured account automatically when you turn on safer credit building¹.

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 deposit²
• 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.¹
• Credit Limit: Set your own credit limit based on how much you transfer from your Chime Checking Account to the secured Credit Builder account.
• Helps Build Credit¹: Chime reports your transactions to Transunion, Experian, and Equifax.

Who the card is best for

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