Consumer complaint received 2025-12-16 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Problem using a debit or ATM card
Company: Chime Financial Inc
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/year>, I noticed a pending debit card transaction for {$290.00} from a merchant named XXXX that I did not authorize. I contacted Chime immediately and was told they could not take action until the transaction posted. 

On XX/XX/year>, after the transaction posted, I formally filed a dispute with Chime ( Claim ID : XXXX ). I was informed that the investigation could take up to XXXX days and that I would receive a provisional credit within XXXX days. 

Less than XXXX hours later, on XX/XX/year>, Chime denied my claim, stating that no error occurred. Chime provided no documentation, evidence, or investigation details to support this determination. 

I contacted Chime immediately and requested the documents used to deny my claim. A representative reopened the dispute ( reference XXXX ) and stated that documentation would be emailed to me within XXXX day and mailed within XXXX to XXXX business days. 

No documentation was provided. On XX/XX/XXXX and XXXX, I called Chime again due to the lack of follow-up. I was given conflicting information by different representatives and a supervisor, including that documentation could take XXXX days, which contradicted earlier assurances. I was also repeatedly told I would receive a provisional credit within XXXX days. No provisional credit was ever issued. 

Despite reopening the dispute and repeatedly stating that investigations take up to XXXX days, Chime denied the reopened claim again within a single day, once again without providing documentation, evidence, or explanation. 

After the second denial, Chime eventually sent what they described as documentation. This consisted only of : A copy of my original intake questions and answers A copy of my bank statement There was no proof of investigation, no merchant response, no transaction verification details, and no evidence supporting the denials. When I contacted Chime to question the absence of investigative proof, a supervisor provided no substantive answers and ultimately hung up on me during the call. 

Because Chime refused to provide investigation records, I independently contacted the merchant, XXXX, on XX/XX/year>. XXXX XXXX XXXX responded in writing that : They could not locate any order under my name or phone number They found no purchase tied to my identity They advised me to notify my bank so their chargeback team could be contacted I provided this written merchant response to Chime. Despite receiving direct confirmation from the merchant that no order was associated with me, Chime denied my claim a third time, again within approximately XXXX hours, and again without providing investigation notes, merchant chargeback records, or any explanation. 

Only after the third denial did Chime send additional materials, which again consisted solely of : My intake questions My bank statement A copy of the email I personally sent to the merchant and the merchants response There was still no evidence that Chime contacted the merchants chargeback team or conducted a meaningful investigation. 

After this third denial, I contacted XXXX a second time and received additional information confirming that the transaction was an online order for in-store pickup, placed under a different name, and picked up in person. XXXX further confirmed that detailed records, such as pickup verification and related chargeback information, are maintained by their chargebacks department, which must be contacted by the bank. 

I did not file a fourth dispute with Chime or reopen the claim again. After XXXX denials issued within extremely short timeframes, repeated failure to issue provisional credit, refusal to provide investigation records, and clear disregard of the merchants initial written confirmation, I had no reasonable confidence that reopening the claim would result in a good-faith investigation. For this reason, I am submitting this complaint to the CFPB rather than continuing to refile disputes with Chime. 

As a result of Chimes actions, I was unable to recover the unauthorized funds and was forced to take out a loan to cover property taxes due in XXXX, causing additional financial harm that would not have occurred had Chime complied with its dispute obligations.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief