Secured Chime®️ Credit Builder Visa®️: An exceptionally low barrier to building credit comes with limited value

Traditional secured credit cards’ large security deposits, high rates and costly fees can be an intimidating barrier if you’re trying to establish or rebuild your credit. The Secured Chime® Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card is a relatively new spin on secured cards that lowers the entry barrier by removing a minimum security deposit, many major card card costs and any credit check altogether.

As a popular neobank, Chime removes the usual lump sum security deposit for a secured account balance. Instead, your credit limit is the total balance you’ve deposited into the secured account, and since you can only spend the money you have, you’ll avoid an APR, late payment fee, and over-the-limit penalties. If you have low balances in your account, it can hinder your credit-building efforts, but Chime eliminates this headache by not reporting your credit utilization.

The Chime Credit Builder Visa’s features could make it a much easier card to improve your credit with than typical secured credit cards. However, Chime requires you to maintain a Chime Checking Account in addition to your linked banking account, secured deposit account and Credit Builder card. You won’t be able to earn rewards or upgrade to an unsecured card with Chime, either.

The Chime Credit Builder Visa could be a remarkably accessible and low-cost solution if you’re trying to improve your credit and don’t have the resources for an upfront security deposit. But a straightforward secured card could be easier to manage and provide more long-term value, more accurate hands-on card experience and a potentially faster credit-building process.

The Chime Credit Builder card has more moving parts than traditional secured credit cards, so learning how it operates can help you decide whether the extra effort is worth the easier access to building credit.

Quick highlights

• Rewards rate: N/A
• Welcome offer: N/A
• Annual fee: $0
• Purchase intro APR: N/A
• Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
• Regular APR: N/A

Current welcome offer

The Chime Credit Builder card doesn’t carry a welcome offer, but neither do the majority of cards focused on building credit. In fact, the Discover it® Secured Credit Card is one of the rare exceptions by matching all of the cash back you earn at the end of your first year with the card. 

Rewards rate

Unfortunately, the Chime Credit Builder Card doesn’t earn rewards. This feature isn’t a deal-breaker since this Chime card is focused on simply making credit building more accessible to as many cardholders as possible. Many cards in its class don’t offer rewards, but more secured cards with rewards have launched in the past few years.

The Chime Credit Builder carries almost no additional features, like many other cards designed for a limited credit or a low credit score. An easily accessible path to building credit is its focus, and Chime’s inclusive no-credit-check application is the main attraction. However, you’ll also receive staple features available on almost any card, such as free FICO score checks, card-locking features to protect against unauthorized purchases and basic Visa perks.

No credit check to apply

As the perfect complement to the card’s account balance-based security deposit and exceptionally few fees, Chime keeps applications quick and accessible by skipping the credit check process entirely.

Traditional banks and card issuers typically conduct some kind of credit inquiry, usually a hard credit check (also known as a “hard pull”). Credit checks will temporarily ding your credit score since new credit inquiries make up 10 percent of your FICO score. Very few cards don’t require a credit check, and those that do typically charge high rates and fees. For example, the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card is one of the most well-known no-credit-check cards, but it poses a $35 annual fee.

Visa Traditional credit card benefits

The Chime Credit Builder is a Visa Traditional credit card, which offers a small list of basic perks that a majority of credit cards come with. They’re nothing that will make or break your decision, but the perks could potentially include:

• 24/7 pay-per-use roadside dispatch assistance
• Dovly Uplift™ credit management and report inaccuracy repair service access
• Access and discounts to partner programs like Shipt deliveries, Sofar presale tickets, Preferred Hotels and Resorts bookings and more

Chime Checking Account perks

Although they aren’t exactly Credit Builder Visa card-exclusive perks, the Chime Checking Account required to apply for the secured card comes with a few benefits unique to it that could help you manage your card.

• Automatic paycheck notification: One of Chime’s most advertised benefits is how it allows you to access your paycheck as soon as it’s made available. Since Chime doesn’t conform to some common banking traditions, it sends you a notification as soon as your paycheck is directly deposited into your Chime Checking Account.
• SpotMe: This feature is a form of overdraft protection for Chime Checking Account debit cards. If your account receives at least a $200 direct deposit that month, you’ll be able to overdraft up to $200 with no fees. However, your next deposit(s) go toward covering your negative balance. You can also send and receive up to four SpotMe $5 “Boosts” to and from friends in the Chime app to extend your overdraft limit that month.

Both of these perks can help you shore up your Credit Builder card’s limit in a pinch. Getting your paycheck up to two days early can beef up your credit limit for upcoming bills, and you can use SpotMe to pull cash in an emergency if you need to use your card for the expense.

Secured and other credit-building cards are infamous for their sky-high rates and fees, but the Chime Credit Builder Visa card features fewer fees than most credit cards on the market. In fact, you won’t have to worry about late payment fees, cash advance fees or even an APR. Plus, there are no annual fees or foreign transaction fees.

The only fees you may run into during your experience with Chime are the $2.50 cash advance fee for out-of-network ATM and over-the-counter withdrawals, optional tips for the debit card’s SpotMe overdrafts and an optional $20 expedited card replacement fee. All three of these potential costs can be easily avoided, so it’s entirely possible to completely dodge card costs with the Chime Credit Builder card — a remarkable rarity in the credit card world.

The Secured Chime Credit Builder Card offers a leg up to applicants that might not have easy entry to the traditional credit card market and paves a straightforward path to a higher credit score. However, a few other standout starter cards can provide a more educational credit card experience, the ability to carry a balance if need be and even remarkable rewards.

Chime Credit Builder card vs. the SuperCash™ Card

As unique as the Chime Credit Builder card’s approach to secured cards is, the relatively new SuperCash Card uses a similar secured account balance for its credit limit and waives most of the same rates and fees, including APR.

Rewards-savvy cardholders may find the SuperCash to be a more valuable pick, since it earns unlimited 2 percent cash back on all purchases. You may also build credit a bit faster with the SuperCash since it reports your credit utilization to the major credit bureaus. Both cards require you to manage fluctuating secured account and credit card balances, but the SuperCash doesn’t require a checking account to deposit your money. 

Accessible credit-building is the major draw for these like-minded cards, but your definition of “accessibility” determines which one is the better option. Although the Chime card touts that it doesn’t require a minimum deposit to open, the required Chime Checking Account’s mandatory $200 direct deposit means the SuperCash could be more accessible upfront since it truly doesn’t require a minimum secured account balance to open the card. However, keeping a low deposit balance with the SuperCash could devastate your credit building efforts. Meanwhile, you’d be safe keeping whatever secured account balance you like with Chime’s secured card.

The chance to earn cash back on par with leading flat-rate cards’ rates may seal the deal for some cardholders, but the SuperCash card’s terms are far more complex and full of small stumbling blocks that could add up to a more challenging experience. For example, the SuperCash doesn’t have an auto-deposit feature, there’s currently no cash advance function and the web of transaction limits and withdrawal inconveniences can make moving your money much more difficult.

Ultimately, the SuperCash card could be more lucrative for people who plan to capitalize on its rewards and a high credit limit, but the Chime Credit Builder card is a much simpler option for steadily building credit and managing your funds.

Chime Credit Builder card vs. Discover it® Secured Credit Card

Since the Secured Chime Credit Builder card requires a $200 direct deposit to open the prerequisite checking account (if you didn’t already have one), the Discover it® Secured Credit Card is just as accessible with its $200 minimum security deposit.

There’s no doubt that the Secured Chime Credit Builder card is a lower-risk option with an almost unbeatable lack of card costs. However, this Discover card packs some of the best value available for a traditional secured credit card. It’s one of the rare few to offer a solid cash back rate plus a welcome offer: Discover matches all cash back you earn at the end of your first year with the card. You’ll have a reassuring safety net thanks to its minimized fees — including no annual fee, foreign transaction fees, penalty APR or fee on your first late payment (then up to $41) — and Discover automatically reviews your account starting at 7 months to see if they can transition the cardholder to an unsecured line of credit. 

These features combine for a faster path to an unsecured card and higher credit score with avoidable card costs and plenty of rewards value along the way. The Discover it® Secured Credit Card is well worth it, but the Secured Chime Credit Builder Visa could be better just for the lack of interest and credit checks.

Best cards to pair with the Chime Credit Builder card

Rather than applying to multiple cards for an optimal rewards strategy, we recommend focusing on building your credit score — especially if you aren’t able to keep a high secured account balance.

However, it’s wise to keep this card open for the good of your credit score even after you can qualify for a full-fledged unsecured card. Any rewards credit card at your credit level that suits your spending and preferred rewards style would be a good option as your primary rewards card. For example, the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card could be a good choice once you have a fair credit score.

Meanwhile, you could keep the Chime Credit Builder card and occasionally use it to keep your account active, open and in good standing.

Chime provides a much-needed credit-building opportunity for less financially flexible people who traditional banks and secured cards don’t reach. There’s no credit check or minimum secured account balance required whatsoever, so this card provides an exceptionally accessible path to help steadily improve credit without credit utilization or fees getting in your way.

However, the Chime Credit Builder card may take a bit more effort to manage than a typical secured card, since you need to regularly refill the accompanying deposit account to make purchases with the card These requirements may not be feasible for you if you aren’t paid via direct deposit or have trouble getting the $200 minimum deposit for a standard secured card in the first place.

The Chime Credit Builder card is a wise pick if you want an extremely low-cost way to build credit and you think the fees, a low credit limit or credit check on other cards are an obstacle. Otherwise, a highly rated secured card may be a more rewarding, educational and faster way to climb the credit score ranks.