📄 Policy Information

chime.com/policies/privacy-policy
Chime Financial, Inc.
Stride Bank, N.A. / Bancorp Bank
IPO Planned

⚠️ Data Sensitivity: Tier 2 (Highly Sensitive)

Neobanks process financial data, transaction history, direct deposit information, and government IDs. This data requires heightened privacy protections under our methodology.

Privacy Score Breakdown

Data Collection Scope 25/100

PII collected; "not limited to product requirements" per Common Sense

Third-Party Sharing 22/100

25% protection score; data shared for advertising and marketing

Advertising & Tracking 30/100

Behavioral targeting displayed; third-party ad tracking enabled

User Control 32/100

Opt-out options not evaluated by Common Sense; unclear mechanisms

Data Security 20/100

17% security score; encryption status unclear for transit and storage

⚖️ Regulatory Enforcement History

CFPB Consent Order - $4.55 Million (May 2024)

The CFPB found Chime failed to return consumer funds within the legally required timeframe after closing accounts:

"Chime failed to refund consumers' balances within 14 days in thousands of instances, including thousands of instances when Chime failed to issue consumer refunds within 90 days."

Penalties imposed:

  • $3.25 million civil penalty to CFPB victims relief fund
  • $1.3 million minimum redress to harmed consumers
  • Affected consumers receive at least $150 if balance exceeded $10
Source: CFPB Enforcement Action

California DFPI Settlement - $2.5 Million (February 2024)

Chime settled with California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation over inadequate complaint handling.

The settlement addressed Chime's responsiveness to customer complaints between January 2021 and March 2021.

Source: Banking Dive

CFPB Sendwave/Remittance Settlement - $3 Million (October 2023)

The CFPB alleged Chime's remittance service forced consumers to waive legal protections:

"CFPB alleged Chime violated the EFTA and the Remittance Transfer Rule (RTR). Sendwave users were allegedly required to sign a 'remittance service agreement' which protected Chime from being responsible for losses the consumer incurred."
Source: ABA Banking Journal

Washington State Text Spam Investigation (Ongoing)

Chime is under investigation for potentially violating Washington's Commercial Electronic Mail Act:

"Lawyers are investigating Chime for sending unsolicited referral texts to Washington residents... The CEMA strictly prohibits companies from sending residents promotional text messages without prior consent."
Source: ClassAction.org

Hundreds of Locked Account Complaints (2021+)

Customers have filed numerous CFPB complaints about suddenly locked accounts:

"Chime customers file hundreds of CFPB complaints over locked accounts."
Source: Banking Dive

📊 Common Sense Privacy Evaluation (Cited)

Overall Rating: "Warning" (43%)

Common Sense Media does not recommend Chime for privacy:

"Applications and services with a Warning rating do not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices."
Source: Common Sense Privacy Report - Chime

Data Collection Beyond Product Requirements

Chime collects more data than necessary for its core service:

"Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected. Collection or use of data is not limited to product requirements."
Source: Common Sense Privacy Report - Chime (50% data collection score)

Data Shared for Advertising & Marketing

Third parties receive your data for promotional purposes:

"Data are shared for third-party advertising and/or marketing."
Source: Common Sense Privacy Report - Chime (25% data sharing score)

Behavioral Advertising & Cross-Site Tracking

Your data is used for targeted advertising across websites:

"Behavioral or targeted advertising is displayed. Data are collected by third-party advertising or tracking services. Data are used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites."
Source: Common Sense Privacy Report - Chime (33% ads & tracking score)

Encryption Status Unclear

Critical security protections cannot be verified:

"Encryption status remains unclear for both transit and storage."
Source: Common Sense Privacy Report - Chime (17% data security score)

👥 Chime's Own Disclosures (Cited)

Advertising ID Sharing

Chime admits sharing identifiers for tracking purposes:

"Chime shares a unique identifier such as an advertising ID, cookie ID, or hashed email address. This is shared for advertising and/or analytics purposes, which may be used to track your online activities."
Source: Chime Help Center

CCPA "Sale" Consideration

Chime's practices may qualify as data "sale" under California law:

"Under the CCPA's broad definitions, sharing data with third-party analytics or advertising providers in exchange for their services may be considered a 'sale' or 'share,' even if no money is exchanged."
Source: Chime Help Center

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