Chime Card Rewards Ending

Earlier this month I wrote about some new Chime Card rewards where you can save money at some popular merchants. For those new to this card, it is a debit card and gives similar type deals to the American Express Offers. By shopping at participating merchants with your Chime Visa debit card you receive money back and unlike Amex Offers you do not need to sync or register your card in advance. Although offers are limited so they are available as a first come first serve. For those new to this type of savings, I’ll explain more below or you can read more about the card when I first wrote about it back in September 2014.

Many offers are set to end February 23, but what I’ve found with Chime is that when they say the offer ends X date, they really expire the date prior (I am not sure why that is the case). So I believe the offers that are set to expire today include:

• Subway – Spend $10, get $1 back
• Forever 21 – Spend $30, get $3 back
• ULTA Beauty – Spend $20, get $3 back
• Kmart – Spend $50, get $5 back
• Chili’s – Spend $25, get $3 back
• Kohl’s – Spend $50, get $5 back
• Everlane – Spend $30, get $5 back
• **There is also a cable bill offers that is set to expire March 1, 2015

I personally took advantage of the ULTA Beauty offer as I shop there normally. This saved me an extra $3 on a purchase I would have made already and since it is a statement credit, I was able to double dip by applying a promotion code to my order as well. Another good offer (which I didn’t have the opportunity to take advantage of), is Kmart as you can purchase a $50 gift card to another merchant (i.e., Amazon) and trigger the $5 statement credit.

New to Chime? While you can find all details on the Chime card in this prior post, here is a synopsis:

• What is the Chime Card? A debit card where you must apply and enter your SS#. It is a soft inquiry, which will not affect your credit score.
• How do I apply? Apply here. You will receive a free $10 after you load your card with $50 or more. To get this you must sign up through a referral link. This is my personal referral link, but feel free to leave your own in the comments section. If approved you will not be able to take advantage of any of the offers until your card comes in the mail. In the meantime, however, you can setup your account online, download the Chime app, and fund your card.
• How do I unload my money from the card? Use your card at any merchant that accepts Visa! You can also purchase gift cards, i.e., Amazon.com, if you want to get the money off fast to use for future purchases. You can withdraw your money at an ATM (up to $500/day) but there is a $2.50 fee per transaction on domestic ATMs. You might also incur a fee from the ATM provider directly.
• What are the fees for this card? If there is no activity on your card for 180 you will be charged $5. Activity can be as simple as a $1 purchase or a $1 transfer from PayPal, but there still needs to be some activity. A $5 fee can add up so make sure to remember this! This card comes with a 3% foreign transaction fee.
• How do I take advantage of the Chime offers? The main purpose of this card is to receive money back with participating offers, not to use at everyday merchants. When you see an offer, it will tell you how many are left. Surprisingly, not many people use Chime, so even if you see there are only 50 transactions left for that one offer, it could take weeks to meet. Before you shop though, make sure there are at least a few transactions left to ensure you will get the money back to your Chime account. Each offer is only available once per card. One thing to note – purchasing gift cards typically works to trigger the cash back. If online, just make sure you are purchasing through the store directly and not a third-party merchant (which is typically with eGift cards but not physical plastic gift cards).

Overall, I found the process with applying and using the card incredibly easy. I’ve taken advantage of a handful of offers already and while it is not the most amazing money making opportunity, it is still something! I assume I’ll save about $100-$200 over the court of the year, which is great for putting in hardly any effort.