Chime Bank vs. Chase Bank- Which is Better for You?

By Zachary Greene
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Updated on October 6th, 2022

Chime and Chase are very different banks, one focusing on online services and one focusing on in-branch services – Generally only one is right for your personal banking needs.

Ultimately we’d say Chime is a much better choice, as they offer one of the best savings accounts for free that’s easy to transfer money into from your Chime Bank Account, they offer way more free ATM’s, no foreign transaction fees, and most of all — no account management fee regardless of how little or much you keep in your chime account.

Which Offers the Best Services/Rates?

We’d say Chime wins this category by a slight margin — this is because Chime offers a 1.5% interest rate on all deposits what Chase offers basically nothing (0.05%) in interest per year on deposits — Chime also has free (optional) savings features such as “round-up” savings that rounds up purchases into a free savings account, while Chase doesn’t offer such options currently.

Ultimately the only feature Chase has that Chime doesn’t is they have physical bank branches/locations that make it easier for you to deposit cash into your account — but unless you need to deposit cash into your bank account, and get paid in cash, then this feature isn’t very important as most of the time people get paid via ACH transfer into their bank account and receive minimal amounts of cash — and the cash they have they can spend on grocery or in-person purchases without issue.

Which has less fees?

Chime wins this category without a doubt — Chase has tons of fees, fees for simply not receiving enough money every month into the account, or not holding enough money in the account, or slightly overspending your account, using atm’s not owned by Chase Bank, etc.

Chime has virtually no fees — You can withdraw from any Money-Pass Alliance ATM for no fee, which are generally available at every single Walgreens, H-E-B, CVS, Whole Foods, and gas station — so finding a fee-free atm with Chime is super easy and convenient, you simply can open their app or look on their website to find a fee-free atm near you.

Chime also has no account minimums and you get charged no monthly fee even if you only have $1 in the account and even if you receive no money into the account during the month — they also allow up to $100 of overdraft without penalty, so if you make a mistake and overspend it shouldn’t be a problem.

Which Has The Best Signup Bonus Offers?

We’d say Chase has slightly better sign-up bonus offers –– Despite this we’d say unless you plan on using Chase Bank to receive deposits or hold moderate amounts of money in to avoid the monthly fees Chase charges, then Chime’s is better as while it’s less you receive it quicker, with less requirements, and don’t have to worry about the monthly fees eating it up over-time.

Chase Bank’s sign-up bonus varies depending on the current promotions they offer but generally its around $200 for a switching you direct-deposit over to Chase Bank, and you can also get an extra $200 -> $400 if you deposit $15000+ into their savings account, but in our opinion this isn’t really worth it — keep in mind though you’ll need to receive monthly deposits or hold $1500+ in your bank account to avoid the monthly fees chase charges ($12+/mo). You can receive this bonus by signing up through a promotional mailer Chase mails you and completing the requirements within 60 days.

Chime Bank’s sign-up bonus is even easier to get, simply get referred by an existing Chime Bank user and receive a $200+ direct deposit within 45 days of opening an account and you’ll get $50 the following day as a sign-up bonus. You can be referred to Chime by us by clicking here if you don’t want to bother being referred by a friend or family member.

Which is more Trustworthy?

This heavily depends on you and your personal beliefs –– While we believe Chime is probably a bit safer and more trustworthy due to not having as many speculative aspects of their business (lending, margin trading, etc), we would say of all the traditional banks Chase is the least likely to go out of business and is ultimately relatively safe and trustworthy — with relatively decent customer service albeit nothing stellar.

Ultimately they both are the top tier in their respective categories (traditional banks and digital banks) — and they both have the standard FDIC insurance that all banks have, so they have just as much protections as any other bank in the event that one of them went out of business.

What Advantages does Chase Bank have over Chime?

While we believe Chime is a better bank for most people — it’s not always the better bank. If you prefer an all-in-one solution for credit cards, and prefer to be able to get things done for you in-person rather than bothering with a digital interface, or simply want to deposit cash into your bank account frequently, then Chase, or another “traditional bank” is an absolute must for you — our personal choice for this is Chase, but Bank of America is another decent choice if you’re in need of such things.

However those are pretty much the only advantages Chase offers — which are extremely important if you need them, but if you don’t there’s really no reason to choose Chase over Chime according to our analysis and personal opinion.

What Advantages does Chime have over Chase Bank?

Chime offers way less fees, more flexibility in where you can withdraw money from ATM’s, a better mobile interface and banking experience, and way better interest rates than Chase does on your savings — ultimately the only problem with Chime in our opinion is to deposit cash into your account you’d have to either buy a money order or deposit it at a Green Dot reload location (Family Dollar, CVS, Kroger, Walmart etc) which isn’t hard to find or do — but in our opinion it’s more annoying than simply showing up to a Chase ATM and depositing the cash into the ATM.

If you think Chime is right for you then make sure to check out their current promotions, or simply sign up through a referral link such as this one.

Overall chime vs chase Verdict:

While chase offers a more comprehensive banking experience, with credit cards, loans, investment services, etc, their banking product is not really that competitive or good when compared to Chime.

We’d say if you’re looking to get a credit card with chase or just have a ‘all-in-one’ banking/credit-card solution then chase is a good choice, but if you just want simple free no fee banking then Chime is significantly better for that.