Chime to acquire partner Stride Bank for $590 mln, secures own bank charter

Author: Joey Pizzolato, American Banker

Key Insights

• Deal Details: Chime is acquiring Enid, Oklahoma-based Stride Bank for $590 million in cash.
• Strategic Importance: Owning its own bank will enable Chime to build products faster, eliminate partner banking fees, and expand its lending business more efficiently.
• Timeline: The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027, pending approvals from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve.

Overview

Chime is finally becoming a bank — a full-circle moment for the fintech that set out from day one to challenge the legacy, fee-based banking model.

The neobank announced Tuesday that it is acquiring Stride Bank, its banking services partner for more than seven years, for $590 million in cash. Upon approval, Stride will become Chime Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chime, led by Brud Baker, Stride Bank's current chairman and CEO.

"The opportunity for us to actually own a charter was really not a matter of if, it was just when," Chime CEO Chris Britt told American Banker after the deal was announced. "Our ambition is to be the largest provider of primary bank accounts in America. So naturally, at some point, it would make sense to [own a charter], and we feel like now is the when."

Strategic Benefits

Owning its own bank will allow Chime to:

• Build products more quickly
• Eliminate partner banking fees
• Reduce funding costs

Additionally, directly connecting Chime Core — the neobank's proprietary technology platform — with Stride's banking infrastructure will help unify data. This is particularly important in an era where artificial intelligence is accelerating the pace of product development and deployment, Britt noted.

"You can use this technology to build things faster than ever and innovate, but at the end of the day, in a highly regulated category like ours, when you have multiple handoffs and different data sets on different parties and so forth, it just doesn't allow for the most streamlined set of operations," Britt said.

Regulatory and Operational Outlook

The deal is subject to approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve. Following approval, Chime expects to consolidate its banking activities at Stride while keeping its assets below $10 billion for the foreseeable future. Banks with assets exceeding $10 billion are subject to debit interchange caps.

Chime stated in a press release that it chose to acquire an existing bank rather than apply for a de novo charter because it "provides a faster and more proven path to full-stack ownership."

Financial Guidance

With the announcement, Chime raised its full-year guidance:

• Q3 2026 Revenue: Expected to reach $705 million, representing year-over-year growth of approximately 30%.
• Full-Year 2026 Revenue: Expected between $2.76 billion and $2.77 billion, a year-over-year increase of 26%–27%.

Keefe Bruyette & Woods analyst Sanjay Sakhrani called the acquisition an "efficient way to drive vertical integration, creating expense and funding upside." Shares of Chime rose as much as 11% in after-hours trading in New York.

For reprint and licensing requests, click here.