Fintech CEO Chris Britt of Chime on reasons Americans don’t trust banks
The disruption of traditional bricks-and-mortar banks by fintech companies was already occurring when the pandemic sent startups offering banking services faster, cheaper, and more digitally accessible into overdrive.
A rush of venture capital followed, with fintech companies raising more than $130 billion in 2021 alone, creating more than 100 new unicorns, or companies with at least $1 billion in valuation.
However, as the field of fintechs got more crowded and the economy has entered a more recessionary environment, funding has dried up and several fintechs have taken valuation cuts. The fintech reckoning is going well beyond private companies, as public markets have not been kind to former Disrupters Dave and SoFi, both trading well off their IPO prices. Legacy banks have seen their efforts to disruptor these disruptors fall short of expectations – for example, Goldman Sachs recently pulled back on its fintech ambitions.
Making that banking picture even fuzzier is the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the wave of concerns that followed.
But Chris Britt, CEO of Chime, which ranked No. 15 on the 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, says even with much of the banking system on edge, he still sees a strong market need for fintechs.
“It’s very difficult for [the big banks] structurally to compete for the segment that we aim to serve, which is sort of mainstream middle and more lower income consumers,” Britt said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Tuesday. “Big banks do a pretty good job with high income, high FICO score folks who have big deposits and are credit worthy, but for most Americans, the 65% that live paycheck to paycheck, the only way that big banks can make the math work on serving them is by being very punitive on fees.”
Addressing the part of the population that has been disillusioned by traditional banking was part of the impetus for Britt and Ryan King to found Chime in 2010. This year marks the fourth time Chime has been featured on the CNBC Disruptor 50 list.
“The trust levels that mainstream Americans have in banks is extremely low, and that was part of the opportunity that we pursued,” Britt said.
Those trust levels waned in recent weeks with the collapse of Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank, followed by the eventual government seizure and sale of First Republic Bank. Nearly half of the adults polled in a recent Gallup survey said they were “very worried” (19%) or “moderately worried” (29%) about the safety of the money they had in a bank or other financial institution.
Britt said that although Chime has a relationship with SVB, it “hasn’t seen much of a change as a result of the SVB situation” from members, as “99.9% of our consumer deposits are FDIC insured because they’re well below the $250,000 threshold.”
Chime’s focus on having a primary account relationship with members as opposed to other fintechs that may focus on one-off or peer-to-peer transactions has helped the company’s business be “very resilient.”
“Most of our members use Chime for non-discretionary spend; they’re going out and shopping at Target or Amazon or Subway, and they’re using it for their everyday purchases,” Britt said. The majority of Chime’s revenue comes from network partners like Visa when members use their cards at the point of sale.
Chime, which was valued at $1.5 billion in 2019, reached a valuation of $25 billion in 2021. The company became profitable on an EBITDA basis during the pandemic, Britt told CNBC in September 2020.
However, the company has not been immune from the current challenges. In November, Chime laid off 12% of its workforce, or about 160 people, in a move that Britt said would help the company thrive “regardless of market conditions.”
Still, Chime is still open to a future IPO, Britt told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin, something that the company has long been rumored for well ahead of the current frozen IPO market for new offerings from venture-backed startups.
George Kurtz, chief executive officer of Crowdstrike Inc., speaks during the Montgomery Summit in Santa Monica, California, U.S., on Wednesday, March 4, 2020.
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
CrowdStrike shares fell 7% in extended trading on Tuesday after the security software maker issued a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast.
Here’s how the company did against LSEG consensus:
- Earnings per share: 73 cents, adjusted vs. 65 cents expected
- Revenue: $1.10 billion vs. $1.10 billion expected
Revenue increased by nearly 20% in the fiscal first quarter, which ended on April 30, according to a statement. The company registered a net loss of $110.2 million, or 44 cents per share, compared with net income of $42.8 million, or 17 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
Costs rose in sales and marketing as well as in research and development and administration, partly because of a broad software outage last summer.
For the current quarter, CrowdStrike called for 82 cents to 84 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $1.14 billion to $1.15 million in revenue. Analysts polled by LSEG were expecting 81 cents per share and $1.16 billion in revenue.
CrowdStrike bumped up its guidance for full-year earnings but maintained its expectation for revenue. The company now sees $3.44 to $3.56 in adjusted earnings per share, with $4.74 billion to $4.81 billion in revenue. The LSEG consensus was $3.43 per share and $4.77 billion in revenue. The earnings guidance provided in March was $3.33 to $3.45 in adjusted earnings per share.
Also on Tuesday, CrowdStrike said it had earmarked $1 billion for share buybacks.
“Today’s announced share repurchase reflects our confidence in CrowdStrike’s future and unwavering mission of stopping breaches,” CEO George Kurtz said in the statement.
As of Tuesday’s close, the stock was up 43% so far in 2025, while the S&P 500 index had gained less than 2%.
Executives will discuss the results on a conference call with analysts starting at 5 p.m. ET.
WATCH: Trade Tracker: Malcolm Ethridge buys more CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Spotify and Oracle
An attendee wearing a cow costume while playing Mario Kart World by Nintendo Switch 2 during the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience at the Excel London international exhibition and convention centre in London on April 11, 2025.
Isabel Infantes | Reuters
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Tuesday talked up the capabilities of Nintendo‘s new Switch 2, days before the long-awaited console is set to hit store shelves.
In a video posted by Nintendo, Huang called the chip inside the Switch 2 “unlike anything we’ve built before.”
“It brings together three breakthroughs: The most advanced graphics ever in a mobile device, full hardware ray tracing, high dynamic range for brighter highlights and deeper shadows, and an architecture that supports backward compatibility,” Huang said.
He added that the console has dedicated artificial intelligence processors to “sharpen, animate and enhance gameplay in real time.”
Huang’s comments come as Nintendo prepares to release the Switch 2 on Thursday. The Switch 2 is Nintendo’s first new console in eight years, and it is expected to be a bigger and faster version of its predecessor. The device costs $449.99.
Huang also paid tribute to the vision of former Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, who died before the original Switch was released.
“Switch 2 is more than a new console,” Huang said. “It’s a new chapter worthy of Iwata Son’s vision.”
WATCH: Nintendo expects to sell 15 million units of the Switch 2
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway