Chime Financial Fined $4.5 Million for Harming Customers

Nonbank financial services provided withheld customer refunds for months

A nonbank lender will pay more than $1 million directly to former customers and also pay a civil penalty in excess of $3 million for harmful and illegal actions it took against customers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued the penalty after finding that Chime Financial delayed customer refunds for weeks and sometimes months, inflicting significant financial harm on individuals who simply wished to close their Chime accounts.

“Chime’s customers had to wait weeks or months for access to their own money and were forced to use alternative funds to cover their essential expenses,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “Fast-growing financial firms must treat their customers fairly and understand that federal law is not a suggestion.”

Approximately seven million consumers make $8 billion in transactions using Chime cards each month.

The CFPB's investigation found that Chime failed to issue consumer refunds within the 14 days promised by its policy, including thousands of instances in which Chime did not get refunds to consumers within 90 days.

The enforcement action includes $1.3 million in payments from Chime to the consumers it harmed. In addition, Chime will pay a $3.25 million civil penalty.

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