Do You Need Your Debit Card to Withdraw Money From Chime?

The online bank Chime offers spending accounts with debit cards accepted wherever Visa debit cards are accepted. However, there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to withdraw money from Chime without your debit card, as one Reddit user recently found out.

In a September 2019 post, that user said they set up their direct deposit to their Chime spending account but couldn’t access their money because their debit card hadn’t arrived in the mail yet.

Commenters on the post “chimed” in with potential solutions, but nothing worked, as the Reddit user wrote in an update. “I had to end up waiting to get the debit card,” they added. “I don’t remember how long it ended up taking, but it wasn’t long.”

Another user, however, had a better experience. 

According to Almvest, one possible workaround for getting your money out your Chime spending account without your debit card is to transfer the money to a friend who has a Chime account and to have them use their card to withdraw money for you.

The site proposes other ways of using your Chime balance without your physical debit card. You could have your debit card in a digital wallet like Apple Pay, for instance, or you can click the “View My Card” button in the Chime app to get your card number, expiration date, and CVV.

One Reddit user said they were able to transfer money out of their Chime account before activating their card by using the same “View My Card” button. “This temporary Visa info can be used in CashApp to ‘Add Cash’ before receiving your permanent card,” they wrote in the September 2020 post. “I just confirmed this method today.”

The official Chime Reddit account seemed to endorse that Reddit thread and told one commenter where to find the virtual card.

After you do have your debit card, you have a lot of options for withdrawing money.

In a support article, Chime says that it offers 38,000 fee-free ATMs across the U.S. thanks to its partnerships with MoneyPass and the Visa Plus Alliance network. You can withdraw up to $500 per day at ATMs.

A list of ATMs is available on the Chime app and at www.chime.com/atms/. The app also shows an additional 38,000 cash-back locations at Walmart, Target, CVS, and other chains.

You can use your Chime card at an out-of-network ATM, but Chime charges a $2.50 fee on top of any fee the out-of-network ATM fee provider charges. (If you were charged an out-of-network ATM fee, Chime recommends sending a message to the support team through the app.)

Another option is to request an “over-the-counter withdrawal” at banks or credit unions. Chime charges a $2.50 fee for withdrawals made this way.

Also, any fees incurred during withdrawals count toward the Chime card’s $2,500-per-day spending limit.