Chime Financial (NASDAQ:CHYM) reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 results that management said exceeded prior guidance, capping a year highlighted by strong revenue growth, improving profitability, and the completion of a multi-year technology migration.
On the call, Co-Founder and CEO Chris Britt said the company continued to see “stability” in member behavior despite broader concerns about consumer pressure. Britt said member spending remained healthy in the quarter, with steady growth across discretionary and non-discretionary categories among tenured cohorts and across income levels. He also pointed to higher average deposit balances, consistent use of liquidity products with lower losses, “all-time low” loss rates on MyPay, and “no signs of increasing job loss” within Chime’s member base.
Quarterly performance and member growth
Newcomb also said Chime’s cohort performance has remained durable, noting that the company’s oldest cohorts are “nearly a decade old” and are generating more transaction profit than they did pre-COVID, net of churn. He said newer cohorts improved across several measures in Q4, including a “record high” number of new members converting to direct deposit and faster attachment to multiple products.
Management highlighted increasing multi-product usage: members using six or more products each month made up 15% of active members, up from 5% two years ago.
Chime Core migration and margin progress
Britt and Newcomb emphasized the completion of Chime’s migration to Chime Core, the company’s internal transaction processor and ledger. Britt said Chime is now “100% on our own tech stack” after completing the migration in Q4. He said Chime Core reduces transaction processing costs by an estimated 60% and supports the company’s long-term gross margin target of 90%.
Newcomb said the final stage of the Chime Core migration contributed to a 200-basis-point increase in gross margin, and that Chime’s transaction margin rose to 72% in Q4 from 69% in Q3. He added that the margin improvement was also supported by MyPay loss rates reaching the company’s steady-state target of 1% faster than expected.
Chime reported $57 million of Adjusted EBITDA in Q4, with Adjusted EBITDA margin improving by 12 percentage points year-over-year to 10% in the quarter, according to Britt’s remarks. Newcomb said non-GAAP operating expenses as a percentage of revenue fell by 9 percentage points year-over-year in Q4, and that incremental Adjusted EBITDA margin in Q4 was 57%, exceeding management’s prior expectations.
Product highlights: Chime Card, MyPay, and Instant Loans
Management pointed to momentum across several product lines:
- Chime Card: Britt described Chime Card as a secured cashback credit card built on Chime Core. He said it is resonating with new cohorts, with over half of members in new cohorts adopting it and using it for more than 70% of their Chime spend. Newcomb said credit spend as a percent of overall purchase volume rose to 21% in December from 16% in September, and that new cohorts’ credit mix is “close to 50%.” He also said Chime Card earns approximately 175 basis points on purchase volume versus under 100 basis points on debit.
- MyPay: Britt said MyPay scaled to more than a $400 million revenue run rate in Q4 and generated transaction margin of nearly 60% one year after launch. He said loss rates declined from 1.7% at the start of 2025 to 1% in Q4, reaching the company’s steady-state target “significantly faster than planned.” Mark Troughton, Chime’s president, said the company moved from a fixed-fee model to a variable pricing model, describing the fixed fee as a “hindrance” to scaling access and limits. Troughton said the changes began in Q4 and culminated in mid-January, with more yield impact expected in Q1 and beyond, though the company did not provide product-specific guidance.
- Instant Loans: Newcomb said Chime originated approximately $400 million of Instant Loans in 2025, and that 10% of active members had an open loan as of Q4. Troughton described Instant Loans as an installment loan with terms from three to 12 months (the longer end currently being tested) and limits generally between $300 and $1,000. He said the product is only available to direct deposit members who have been with Chime for a period of time, and he pointed to improved performance for repeat borrowers, saying loss rates can be as much as 50% lower for repeat borrowers compared to first-time borrowers. Management said Instant Loans are expected to contribute more to transaction profit dollars as 2026 progresses, with unit economics improving as the portfolio matures.
Britt also said Chime exited the year with more than $40 billion in annualized origination volume across SpotMe, MyPay, and Instant Loans.
2026 priorities and financial outlook
Looking ahead, Britt said Chime’s 2026 priorities include launching a premium membership tier “in the coming weeks,” expanding into joint accounts, teen and custodial accounts, and adding investing capabilities “this summer.” He also said the company will support “Trump Accounts,” and reported “tens of thousands” of members initiated enrollment through CAC filing with Chime in the first week.
Chime also plans to scale its employer offering, Chime Workplace (also referred to as Chime Enterprise). Britt and Troughton said the company is seeing early traction, including channel partnerships with Workday and UKG. Troughton added that enterprise cohorts are showing higher monetization and better retention than direct-to-consumer cohorts, although management did not provide separate guidance for enterprise-driven member adds.
Newcomb provided guidance for 2026 and said the company expects to achieve GAAP profitability for the balance of the year, which he called an important milestone expected ahead of prior internal expectations.
- Q1 guidance: Revenue of $627 million to $637 million (21% to 23% year-over-year growth) and Adjusted EBITDA of $90 million to $95 million (14% to 16% margin).
- Full-year 2026 guidance: Revenue of $2.63 billion to $2.67 billion (20% to 22% year-over-year growth) and Adjusted EBITDA of $380 million to $400 million (14% to 15% margin).
Newcomb said Chime expects to add approximately 1.4 million net new active members in 2026. He also discussed seasonality tied to CAC refund season in Q1 and normalization in Q2, adding that refunds were tracking higher than the prior year, which he attributed to the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” He said the higher refund levels observed so far were embedded in the company’s guidance.
About Chime Financial (NASDAQ:CHYM)
Chime Financial is a U.S.-based financial technology company offering mobile-first banking services designed to reduce fees and simplify everyday transactions. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, Chime operates a digital bank platform that provides customers with a checking account, a savings account, and a debit card without monthly maintenance fees, overdraft charges, or foreign transaction fees. The company’s platform is accessible via its mobile app, enabling users to manage their finances, track spending, and access customer support from their smartphones.
At the core of Chime’s service offering is its fee-free spending account, which includes early access to direct deposit funds—up to two days before scheduled payday—and instant transaction alerts.
