Wednesday, September 1st, 2021
An update on our partnership with Chime as our HYSA recommendation
After a member of our team flagged an article discussing Chime closing accounts unexpectedly, we immediately messaged Chime to set up a call to address the situation. After speaking with them, we felt that Chime has continued to show integrity in handling the situations reported in the ProPublica article, and they apologized where mistakes had been made.
One of the reasons for the closed accounts was the uptick in fraud over the pandemic with increasing incidents of unemployment fraud, stolen stimulus checks, and identity theft (most banks struggled with this.) Some of the accounts that were mistakenly closed were a part of their efforts to curb this fraudulent activity.
At this time, after speaking with Chime and getting feedback from our community and other Chime users, we have decided to continue to partner with them as our recommended HYSA.
We choose to continue to work with Chime as our HYSA partner because:
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Chime has over 5,000 5-star reviews in the app store
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Chime’s accounts are FDIC- insured, despite what the ProPublica article states (Chime’s Disclaimer found on every page of its website and on all HFK communications: Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank, N.A.; Members FDIC). Bancorp, for reference, is also the bank that PayPal and Venmo use.
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Chime offers options for beginners— including not charging overdraft fees, easy-to-access ATMs, early direct deposit, and more. We always want our recommendations to be both reputable and relevant for where the majority of our community members are financially.
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Chime just purchased one of our favorite services, Charlie, and we are excited to see how they continue to grow with our favorite debt payoff tool.
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Chime is listed on NerdWallet as one of its top-rated institutions.
We are continuing to monitor the situation with Chime, as we do with all of our partners on a consistent basis. We’d also like to state that if you find another HYSA that works better for you and your financial situation, we fully support that!
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please email our contact inbox at contact@herfirst100k.com
— The HFK Team
