I lead our fintech coverage at Forbes and also cover crypto. I edit our annual Fintech 50 and 30 Under 30 for fintech, and I’ve written frequently about leadership and corporate diversity. Before Forbes, I worked for ten years in marketing consulting, in roles ranging from client consulting to talent management.
Chime CEO Chris Britt is in a land grab for banking customers. “We’re pursuing a huge opportunity to be the number one market-share company in primary account relationships,” he says.As he looks towards a possible 2025 IPO, CEO Chris Britt opens up about his own history and Chime ’s current business and future.
Chime cofounder Ryan King was introduced to Britt by a recruiter in 2012, just as Wells Fargo was announcing it was putting an end to free checking accounts.In 2023, Chime’s revenue grew an impressive 30% to about $1.3 billion, more than $1 billion of which was gross profit.
Moreover, to make itself attractive to public investors and consistently profitable, it needs to broaden its product line and to some degree, its customer base. Britt wants Chime to be the primary account for individuals with earnings up to $100,000, meaning more than 75% of American workers. That’s a tall order since almost all the potential customers with earnings between $65,000 and $100,000 already have checking accounts at traditional banks and will need a compelling reason to switch.
After graduating from Tulane in 1995, with a history major and economics minor, Britt became a management consultant at Accenture, then moved to ad tech startup Flycast, media analytics firm Comscore and Visa. In 2007, he joined Green Dot, one of the first companies to put prepaid debit cards on the racks at retail outlets like CVS and Walmart. He was chief product officer when it went public in 2010 at a $1.
Then, they misfired. Chime launched its debit card in April 2014 using shopping rewards and coupons as a hook. It raised $8 million in funding that November, telling investors it would have 150,000 card holders by the end of 2015. But research by Melissa Alvarado, a new analytics hire , found that not only were new debit card holders not setting up direct deposit, they didn’t even think of it as a Chime feature.
Finally, the next year, Chime’s combination of features started to click with potential customers. The most innovative was access to direct-deposited paychecks two days early—something that the banks could have done, but never had an incentive to do, since it would cost them float.
“Chris was able to build a brand that his customers are loyal to,” says venture capitalist Hans Morris. “You can't name many financial services companies that have fair pricing and this type of loyalty among this demographic.”. It eventually delivered $6.7 billion in stimulus payments up to five days early, helping people pay their bills and making a marketing splash. In the summer of 2020, it released a secured credit card with no late fees to boost users’ credit score.
Meanwhile, Chime is working to reduce costs in other areas as it pushes for profitability. It cut 12% of its staff, or roughly 160 employees, in late 2022. It has also been bringing more of its payment processing in-house. King needs an army of people to do this–of Chime’s 1,300 employees, 600 are engineers, and more than 100 are focused on back-end payments operations.
Chris Britt Chime Ryan King Chime Chime Total Customers Digital Banks Top Fintech Companies Chime Loans Biggest Digital Bank Chime Digital Bank Banking Apps
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
President Biden’s Latest Attack On The Economy: Smother The InternetSteve Forbes is Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media.
Lire la suite »
A Patently Catastrophic MoveSteve Forbes is Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media.
Lire la suite »
News 12 takes an exclusive look inside the Suffolk County Corrections Intelligence CenterOn Wednesday, Sheriff Errol Toulon, Jr. told News 12 they are now working with 53 local, state, national and international agencies.
Lire la suite »
Lisa Vanderpump's Wolf: Inside the 'Game of Thrones' Meets Ski Chalet Restaurant (Exclusive)Wolf by Vanderpump is now open at Harvey's Lake Tahoe.
Lire la suite »
Toxic Summer #1: Get An Exclusive First Look Inside Derek Charm's New Oni Press TitleToxic Summer 1 hits stores next week.
Lire la suite »
Inside The Conners' Ups and Downs as the Beloved Family Hits Its 100th Episode Milestone (Exclusive)'The Conners' celebrate its 100th episode milestone with a compilation of their best and worst moments in an exclusive video shared with PEOPLE
Lire la suite »