Consumer complaint received 2025-12-01 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Advertising and marketing, including promotional offers — Didn't receive advertised or promotional terms
Company: Chime Financial Inc
State: NY

Complaint narrative:
My Personal Experience I am filing this complaint because Chime is refusing to honor a {$15.00} sign-up bonus that was explicitly offered to me, instead claiming I enrolled in a different, unwanted program that requires a {$200.00} direct deposit. I believe this is due to a technical/system error on their end, which multiple support agents have validated but refused to correct, leading me into an impossible customer service loop. 

The Incident In order to accept a {$75.00} transfer I received from a friend through Chime 's " pay anyone '' feature on XX/XX/XXXX, I was presented with two options : " take this money '' or " get a {$15.00} bonus for setting up an account with Chime. '' I explicitly chose the {$15.00} bonus option and proceeded to open a new Chime account. The {$75.00} transfer was then successfully credited to my new account. Crucially, the transfer originated within the Chime ecosystem via the " pay anyone '' feature and never came from an external source, which aligns with the {$15.00} bonus promotion I chose. 

The Initial Runaround ( Supervisor XXXX ) When I did not receive the bonus, I called Chime customer service and spoke with a supervisor named XXXX. XXXX apologized but stated that the system shows my account enrollment was created under the " standard referral program link, '' which is for a {$100.00} bonus and requires a direct deposit of at least {$200.00}. I argued that I did not choose the standard referralI specifically clicked on the {$15.00} bonus offer. I also confirmed with XXXX that my enrollment ( XXXX XXXX PST ) and the crediting of the {$75.00} transfer ( XXXXXXXX XXXX PST ) were separated by nearly an hour and a half, suggesting the transfer was a result of the {$15.00} sign-up and not a cause for the {$100.00} referral link. XXXX ultimately reiterated that he was unable to manually adjust my enrollment due to system limitations and denied the {$15.00} bonus. I do not want to set up a direct deposit and was specifically avoiding tying my employer to the account, which is why I did not choose the {$100.00} offer. 

Additional Evidence of Deceptive Practices After the initial denial, my attempts to resolve this issue uncovered what appears to be systemic deception and obfuscation of terms : Admission of Hidden Terms : During one of my follow-up contacts, Chimes automated system explicitly admitted that the terms and conditions for the " {$15.00} Pay Anyone Bonus '' are not accessible within the app 's standard " Legal '' or " Referral '' sections. The system stated these terms are only revealed via email after a user has already committed to the sign-up. Hiding material terms of a financial incentive until after enrollment is a deceptive and unfair practice. 
Contradictory Requirements : Chime 's automated system also claimed that the {$15.00} bonus requires a {$200.00} direct depositthe exact same requirement as their {$100.00} Standard Referral bonus. This defies consumer logic ; no user would knowingly select a {$15.00} incentive over a {$100.00} incentive for the exact same amount of " work. '' This confirms that the distinct " Pay Anyone '' path I clicked was intended to have different, less restrictive terms ( likely no direct deposit ), which Chime is now failing to honor due to their system error. 
The " Impossible Loop '' of Support : A chat supervisor ( " XXXX  '' ) acknowledged that I was incorrectly enrolled in the Standard Referral Program and stated, " I believe you, '' but claimed they lacked the access to fix it. They directed me to call the " Marketing Team '' at XXXX. When I called that number, the automated system stated it could not assist and directed me back to general customer service. I am trapped in a loop where agents validate my claim but refuse to resolve it, citing system limitations.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation