Chime, the bank account that helps its members lead healthier financial lives and automate their savings, today announced a suite of new features including the availability of Apple Pay and separately, a new service to instantly pay friends and family.
The mobile banking company also closed an additional $9 million of funding and has raised a total of $21 million to date. Lauren Kolodny, recently named to the Forbes 30 under 30 Venture Capital list, led the financing for Aspect Ventures and has joined Chime's board.
With the addition of Apple Pay, Chime members can enjoy the convenience, privacy and security of making mobile payments at retailers nationwide as well as within their favorite apps. By adding Chime to Apple Pay on their iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, members can also benefit from Chime's Automatic Savings and rewards when they make purchases with Apple Pay.
Security and privacy is at the core of Apple Pay. When you use a credit or debit card with Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element on your device. Each transaction is authorized with a one-time unique dynamic security code.
In response to demand for more mobile payment options, the company also added a new person-to-person payment feature called Pay Friends which is available to members in the latest release of the Chime website and app which is now available on the App Store and Google Play store. Pay Friends lets members instantly send money to over 120,000 other Chime members. Members can use Pay Friends to square up with roommates for their share of rent and utilities or split the bill when dining out without using multiple cards.
"Our number one goal is to help our members live healthier financial lives. We know our members prefer to manage all aspects of their finances on their phone, and with these new features they'll be able to save time and money when they make mobile payments with Chime," said Chime CEO Chris Britt. "We're excited to partner with Lauren and the proven team at Aspect because of their fresh perspective and experience in building trusted consumer brands for the mobile generation."
"What drew us to Chime was the passion and experience of their leadership team, and the fact that they've established themselves as a new brand in banking that consumers actually love," said Lauren Kolodny. "We're thrilled to partner with Chime to help them accelerate their product development and impressive customer growth."
Crosslink Capital, Homebrew, PivotNorth Capital, Forerunner Ventures and SurveyMonkey CEO Zander Lurie also participated in the financing.