OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK

Barron’s reported last week that Chime, the largest online bank in the US, “may have put its plans to go public on hold.”

This isn’t exactly new news as Forbes reported back in February that the neobank was delaying its planned March 2022 IPO in light of the decline in fintech stock valuations.

In an interview with CNBC last week, Britt was upbeat about Chime’s prospects:

“The market turmoil has not yet made its way to the average, everyday consumer. We’re seeing robust balances, robust transaction activity, people spending again, going out to restaurants…we’re certainly seeing higher spend on fuel, not surprisingly.”

Asked by CNBC how Chime makes money, Britt responded:

“[We’re] really more of a payments business. Our members use us for their every day spending and we make a small part of that transaction when the card gets used at the point of sale. It’s very much aligned with the consumer.”

Chimes Challenge

Kudos to Mr. Britt for calmly handling the CNBC reporter’s uninformed questions about “extending credit to consumers with a recession around the corner.”

Chime, of course, doesn’t do that, as Britt explained.

The challenger bank still has a big challenge, however—a customer demographics challenge.