Having good credit is so important...we all know that. But building that good credit
score whether you're starting from zero or have poor credit history can be incredibly
confusing and typically involves taking on some kind of debt whether that's a mortgage,
a car payment, student loans, or more often than not a traditional credit card that can get you
into a world of trouble if you don’t know how to use it properly. That's where the Secured Chime
Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card comes in. It helps you to build that fantastic credit
score without paying any interest or fees while significantly lowering the risk of
debt…sounds too good to be true so let's explain how this works. Alright, let's jump right into it.
What is going on everyone I hope you are all having a fantastic day. About a year ago I
did a review of this very unique Chime Credit Builder card and to this day that is the most
popular video on my channel and you all seem to absolutely love this product. So today I figured
we would revisit the topic, brush up on what the Credit Builder card offers and how it works,
and help you decide whether or not this is still a product worth getting in 2022. I do want to let
you know that this video is made in affiliation with Chime however as I just mentioned I have been
talking about this product for a long time before they ever reached out to me and this is going to
be a fully open and honest review as you've all come to expect so if you do want to sign up for
the Credit Builder card I will leave a link in the description below but if not I just really
appreciate you checking out the video. Alright so with all that out of the way what in the world is
the Credit Builder card and how can it possibly help build your credit score and credit history
without any of the drawbacks that come with the standard methods of building credit. Well, this
is where things can get a little bit confusing and I still get comments all the time of people
being a little unsure exactly how this product works so let's break it down to make it super
simple. Essentially you are going to add money to your Credit Builder secured about in a set amount
of money, let's say $100 for example, and then you are able to spend up to $100 before having
to add more money to the account to be able to use your card again. And when it comes time to
“pay off” your balance, you have already set that money aside meaning you either manually make the
payment with the funds in your secured account or you can turn on the safer credit builder feature
to have your bill automatically paid with those pre-loaded funds. The big difference
with the Credit Builder card, however, is that once you make your payment, Chime is
going to report that as an on-time payment. And again, making those payments is a breeze
because you can't spend money unless you’ve already set that money aside. And if you're
familiar with how building your credit score works in a traditional sense, your on-time payment
history is by far the most important factor in building your credit score. Remember that with a
traditional credit card product, the credit card provider is essentially giving you a short term
loan up to a predetermined limit meaning you could spend money on a credit card even if you don't
actually have that amount of money in your account and that's where you can get into a lot of trouble
because if you don't pay off that card on time you'll start accruing interest in fees and dig
yourself into a financial hole that can be very difficult to get yourself out of. So the fact
that the Chime Credit Builder card is able to offer all the advantages of helping build your
credit score4 with a significantly reduced chance of accruing debt or having any kind of interest or
fees is amazing. Again instead of taking on that short-term loan from the credit card provider your
essentially paying off that purchase beforehand and using that money that you've already set aside
to make your purchases assuming you’ve turned on that safer credit builder feature which I highly
recommend. And when Chime reports that as an on-time payment to the three major credit bureaus
that is good for your credit score. So if you're still a little confused about how
exactly this works, definitely let me know down in the comments section and also check out the video
that I made a while back comparing the standard Chime Checking debit card to the Credit Builder
card, which gives a real-world example of how this credit builder product works. This all sounds
great, but how do you get the Credit Builder card and what is required in order to get approved.
Well, the first thing you'll want to go ahead and do is to open up a standard Chime Checking
account. I've done a lot of videos on this product and there is a lot to love here including round-up
savings tools, the ability to get paid up to 2 days early with direct deposit, more than
60,000 free-to-use ATMs, and a ton of other great benefits. The reason I mentioned that is because
you're going to use your Chime Checking account to fund your Chime Credit Builder secured account.
With the checking account, you can also open an optional savings account if you’d like to have
everything under one platform. But once you get your standard Chime Checking account opened up and
a qualifying direct deposit, you are then eligible to go ahead and apply for this Credit Builder card
and the best part is that there is no credit check in order to apply and while there aren't
specific financial metrics (Credit Score/Income Requirements) that are posted regarding what is
required to get approved, in talking with the team over at Chime, it is very clear that their
mission here is to help as many members as they possibly can to help build that credit score
again without the drawbacks of traditional credit building methods. So if you're starting from zero,
this might be the perfect product for you because again there's no fees, no interest, a much-reduced
chance of accruing debt, and no credit check in order to apply. Now one other thing I do want
to clarify that I often get questions about is this is not what's often referred to as a
secured credit card. If you're not familiar, with a secured card you essentially give the credit
card provider a predetermined amount of money say $500, and then you are able to spend up to $500
on that particular card and if you decide one day to just not pay off your balance then the credit
card company keeps your $500 security deposit and that's the end of it. That's a very common product
for beginners but again I want to clarify that the Chime credit builder card is NOT a typical secured
credit card because while there is technically a “security deposit” in order to fund your card,
there is no predetermined amount or minimum. Once you're approved for the Credit Builder card
you're simply going to move money from your Chime Checking account into your secured Credit Builder
account and then responsibly use it like your other credit cards. and don't worry if you put say
$1000 onto your Credit Builder secured account and you only spend $100 it's not like that other $900
is gone you can always move it back and forth between the two accounts and
when it really comes down to it, the credit builder card is quite simple
once you learn how to use it. So whether you are starting from zero, have poor credit history, or
even if you have a really decent credit score but are just looking to take things to the next level,
then this is a fantastic product that really doesn't have many drawbacks in my opinion so again
if you would like to give this product a shot then it definitely check out that first link in
the description where you can sign up and I'll also link to the sign-up page for the standard
chime checking account if you don't yet have that one either. One last question I do frequently get
is does this product offer any kind of cash back or rewards and the simple answer is no. For the
time being this product is strictly focused on helping you build your credit score and
while I'd love to see them add some rewards and other benefits in the future, I can definitely
get behind the mission of wanting to focus on one thing at a time and bringing new customers for the
right reasons and not entice them with some flashy signup offer or anything like that because really
that's how a lot of credit card companies bring in customers in the first place and then before you
know it they've gotten themselves into a financial mess which is the complete opposite of what Chime
is trying to do with this product. So I'd love to know what you think of the Chime Credit Builder
card down in the comment section below and if you have used this in your comfortable sharing,
I would love to know how it helped improve your credit score. I've had subscribers send
me messages and leave comments of their credit scores improving by several hundred points
just by using this product which is absolutely amazing so if you're comfortable sharing then I'd
love to hear your story in the comments section as well. Again if you do want to sign up for the
Credit Builder card or the Chime Checking account then I will leave links to both of those down in
the description below and you’ll help support my channel which I seriously appreciate so much. As
always if you do get value out of this content and you want to help support me the easiest way
to do that is by checking out Chimes' Credit Builder card and showing them some love and of
course by hitting the like button and subscribing to the channel. Thank you to Chime for making such
a unique and incredible product and for supporting my content and of course, thank you so much for
your time. I really do appreciate it so much. Take it easy and I'll see you in the next one!