CEO & Co-Founder, Chime
Chime EXPANDS beyond banking with new invest feature
Chime CEO Chris Britt announces Chime Invest, the company's new investment feature allowing members to buy stocks or ETFs, ...
About Chris Britt
Chris Britt, CEO and co-founder of Chime, announced the launch of Chime Invest, a new feature allowing members to buy stocks or ETFs. Britt described the feature as addressing "the divide in America" and stated that "getting a piece of ownership in the country and long-term success of our economy is critical for the health of the nation and member base." He contrasted Chime's approach with other investment apps, saying that while those apps are "awesome and huge success," they "tend to be separate from one's primary bank account" and "focus on driving trading activity." Britt argued that Chime's integration with a user's primary deposit account is a key differentiator, emphasizing that "the most important thing about investing is not timing the market but having time in the market." Regarding Chime's stock performance, Britt acknowledged that the company has been "public for about a year" and that while he is "not happy about the stock price," he is "happy with the performance our team has delivered." He noted that Chime has reported "four quarters straight continuing to grow topline" and predicted that "as we continue to execute... the weight and the success and results we will deliver will come through and show in the performance."
Transcript (15 segments)
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Chris0:06
Time moving beyond traditional banking, best known for providing online checking and savings accounts with no fees, early wage access, just unveiled its new best feature, the Simple. You can now if you're a member, to buy stocks either commission-free expert managed portfolio to do the work for them with no account minimums. Is this feature going to bring about with investors? Fox Business exclusive, Chris here at Fox Business. We talked all day about stocks but what is interesting is there is a Gallup poll you cited a couple of months ago that showed 40% of Americans do not invest in individual stocks, mutual funds or 401k, IRAs, and that's up from 37% in April of last year. What do you think that is?
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Chris Britt1:09
It's great to be here to announce Chime Invest. But I think it demonstrates the divide in America we are trying to address. We think of course getting a piece of ownership in the country and long-term success of our economy is critical for the health of the nation and our member base. So with this new product, one of the key differentiators here is it's fully integrated with your core bank account. 10 million members active on our platform today, and the primary bank account to get direct deposit into our accounts. And with Chime Invest, they can get into a healthy rhythm putting a small amount of their paycheck into an account that leads to long-term wealth.
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Chris2:00
Let's talk about who qualifies. Chime Time which is sort of an upmarket process, that's where you pay a little more to be part of it.
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Chris Britt2:11
With $3000 of direct deposit you can get 5% cashback on a category of your choice. You can choose like restaurants or if you will, groceries or your bills. It's a huge success for us, hoping to drive growth. But it's not only for prime members, it's for anyone. Moreover, stock trading is free and expert managed portfolios, it's free for prime levels and 10 basis points, pretty much at market with comparable companies. But the free option obviously is market leading.
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Chris2:47
It looks like you're going for the super app status, all things to all people when it comes to finances. You've not gotten the bank charter but you've applied.
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Chris Britt2:59
We have not applied.
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Chris3:01
Are you going to?
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Chris Britt3:06
It's something we look at every year. We are happy with the partnerships we've developed. They hold deposits for our members, so you get the same protections as a traditional bank, FDIC insurance and fraud protection and that sort of thing. We haven't ruled it out. We review it every year and it's a question given the state of regulations in America. The market is open, you see a big uptick. So it's something we will evaluate over time.
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Chris3:39
Being able to purchase stocks, that's like the Robinhood of the world. These are payment apps. How do you beat them?
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Chris Britt3:46
Our goal is to help members. And like I said, the key differentiation is integrated into where your deposit comes. And the most important thing about investing is not timing the market but having time in the market. And the best way is an app integrated with where your payroll comes into. And other apps are awesome and huge success and I have a lot of respect for them, but they tend to be separate from one's primary bank account. And oftentimes they focus on driving trading activity and they also monetize the relationships. Where we would more focus on helping long-term investments that compound over many years.
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Chris4:26
Was the White House officially launched Trump accounts? And well before that you were talking with America Invest, predecessor to it. And does it matter to you to be part of this to get people on board? How are you getting people to sign up for Trump accounts which are long-term savings plan for young people, babies and American children? It seems like an intelligent concept and letting people partake in that capitalist American dream.
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Chris Britt4:57
It's something the country should be proud of. So we heard about it, I've been part of the council for many years and proud of the success we've had. Part of your tax filing and we have a free tax prep, so tons of people sign up by declaring if they've had a baby and can kick off the process. Sometime in the line, Invest America accounts will be transferred over to your brokerage account. So we believe they can participate in that and the opportunity is enormous. As Brad highlighted, if you think about the opportunity for a kid getting a thousand dollars from the government when they are born, if it's matched with $1000 like we do for our employees, and every week you put $10 in the account, by the time you're 18 it can be $50,000, and by 30 it could be a couple hundred thousand, and by 55 over $1 million. So incredible innovation, we are supporting it and will be part of our Invest service over time.
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Chris6:10
It sounds like you are doing so many things to hit certain marks. And the stock has been struggling, although in the past month it had a nice move. What do you think Wall Street is getting wrong here?
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Chris Britt6:28
We are a relatively new company to the stock market and have been public for about a year. Four quarters of beating estimates, I'm not happy about the stock price, but I'm happy with the performance our team has delivered. Four quarters straight, continuing to grow topline. But you are seeing signals that we will continue to see more profitability from the company. So as we continue to execute, people say short-term voting, long-term value, we think the weight of the success and results we will deliver will come through and show in the performance.
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Chris7:03
It is starting to at least in the last month or so, weeks, we like the story and we follow a lot of