You know the feeling. You have a week until payday. You check your bank account, and realize you only have $27 left.  And more than $27 worth of outgoings set to hit you.

When you’re in a tight spot, you’re even more vulnerable to predatory payday loans (some are really out here charging 600% interest) and shady overdraft fees, designed to trap you in  downwards money spiral.

This is where a zero-interest cash advance can be a great alternative. So if you need to borrow $100, you only end up having to pay $100 back. And if you’ve landed on this article, you’re probably wanting to ensure the cash advance you choose is super safe.

Smart. Love that for you.

Luckily, Chime does offer a fee-free overdraft service of up to $200, as well as a couple of other useful features.

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(However, this is an overdraft service, not money straight into your account. If this is super disappointing to you, we’ll just mention that Cleo can potentially spot you up to $100, directly into your bank. Eligibility requirements apply.)

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We’re gonna cover everything you need to know about how to apply, and how legit this service is, in this post.

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Is Chime legit?

Yes, Chime is a legitimate company. Chime was founded in 2012, and is an online-only financial technology company which offers online banking services. You can use Chime to send money, set up a direct deposit, automate your savings, and manage your money.

The app has a rating of 4.8/5 on the App Store from over 586.6k reviews.

Chime is partnered with The Bancorp Bank, N.A. and Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC, which are both FDIC-insured. The FDIC protects up to $250,000 of your funds in each bank account, so it’s pretty safe. But, there’s one important detail you’ll need to bear in mind…

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Is Chime a legit bank?

While Chime is a legitimate app for banking services, it is not a bank itself. This can cause some problems.

Because Chime is not officially a bank, you do not experience the same customer relationship that you would with a bank.

In 2022, the Chicago Star reported that Chime can and does cancel user accounts without any notice.

Because it’s not a bank, Chime isn’t required to provide a reason for this cancellation. Customers can’t appeal to banking regulators, as you would with a regular bank. So if this happened to you, the process of getting your deposit back could take much longer than it would from a legit bank.

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This is something to bear in mind when choosing to use Chime. Now we’re gonna go into a bit more detail about what exactly Chime offers.

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How does Chime work?

Chime offers multiple mobile banking services, including:

• Checking and savings accounts
• The Chime Credit Builder Secured Visa® Credit Card, for credit building
• A $200 fee-free overdraft service

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With the fee-free overdraft service, Chime lets you overdraw by up to $200 on debit card purchases without charging fees.

Here’s what you’ll need to do:

• Sign up for a Chime bank account
• Activate your Chime Visa debit card
• Head over to the settings section in the app and find out if you’re eligible

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Here’s what Chime requires:

• You’ll need to have received a single direct deposit of at least $200 into your Chime checking account over a 34-day period to be eligible
• There aren’t any fees, but an optional tip model
• No interest
• No credit checks

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Here’s what you get:

• The SpotMe limit starts at $20 and increases up to $200 depending on risk factors such as your account activity and history
• Remember, SpotMe is an overdraft service, so you don’t get cash straight into your account

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If this doesn’t work for you because you don’t have a Chime account with $200 in it, or you need cash into your bank account instead of an overdraft service, you got options. In fact, we have a whole article covering the best cash advance apps to borrow money from in 2023.

But since you’re on the Cleo blog right now, here’s a bit about the best money app in the world (in our humble opinion)...

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Cleo: The Cash Advance App for Gig Workers

💙 Make today payday with a quick spot of up to $100*

💙 There’s no interest, and no credit checks

💙 Cleo is freelancer friendly - we don’t require employment verification

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You also get access to all of Cleo’s free features, liiiike:

💙A personalized budget designed for you

💙 Visuals showing you how much you have to spend per day

💙 Roast mode, for your unhinged Amazon purchases

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Enjoy this post? Def give it a share or send it along to a friend. You never know, it could make a big difference.

Big love. Cleo 💙

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*Eligibility requirements apply