Chime Agrees to Acquire Stride Bank for $590 Million in Cash
Chime® (NASDAQ: CHYM), one of America’s leading consumer banking platforms, has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Stride Bank, N.A. (“Stride”) for approximately $590 million in cash. The proposed transaction represents a significant step in Chime’s evolution as the company seeks to deepen its banking capabilities, strengthen its technology platform, and gain greater control over the infrastructure supporting its growing customer base.
Stride Bank is a nationally chartered financial institution that has served as Chime’s banking partner for more than seven years. If the transaction receives the required regulatory approvals and closes as expected, Stride will be renamed Chime Bank, N.A. and become a wholly owned subsidiary of Chime.
The acquisition brings together Chime’s technology-focused consumer banking platform, established brand, and more than 10 million Active Members with Stride’s national bank charter, banking infrastructure, and established risk and compliance capabilities. Chime believes the combination will provide a more integrated financial services platform capable of supporting faster innovation and future growth, particularly as artificial intelligence increasingly becomes embedded across financial services.
Chime Moves Toward Greater Control of Its Banking Infrastructure
The proposed acquisition marks a major milestone for Chime as it moves from a challenger banking model toward greater ownership of the underlying banking infrastructure that supports its products.
Since its founding, Chime has focused on providing technology-enabled financial products designed to help consumers manage their money and make financial progress. Its payments-led and asset-light business model has allowed the company to expand its customer base while relying on partner banks for certain regulated banking functions.
By acquiring Stride, Chime would bring the bank behind its member accounts under its corporate ownership. According to the company, this structure is expected to provide greater control over product development, improve operating efficiency, and reduce some of the costs associated with maintaining a partner-bank relationship.
Chris Britt, CEO and co-founder of Chime, said the company’s core mission will remain unchanged following the transaction. He emphasized that Chime was created to provide a better banking experience for mainstream American consumers and that acquiring Stride is intended to strengthen rather than alter that strategy.
Britt said the combination of Chime’s consumer brand and member relationships with Stride’s national banking charter and experienced team would help the company move closer to its goal of becoming the largest provider of primary bank accounts in the United States.
Technology and AI at the Center of the Strategy
One of the primary strategic benefits Chime expects from the transaction is the ability to more closely integrate its technology platform with banking infrastructure.
Chime has developed ChimeCore, its proprietary technology stack designed to support the company’s financial products and operations. The company describes the platform as AI-native and believes that bringing it together with Stride’s banking infrastructure could streamline data flows, decision-making, product development, and operational processes.
Under the existing partner-bank structure, technology development and regulated banking activities can involve multiple organizations and handoffs. Chime expects ownership of Stride to reduce those complexities and enable its teams to develop and launch products more efficiently while maintaining the necessary regulatory controls.
The company sees this integration as particularly important as artificial intelligence continues to reshape financial services. AI can potentially support areas such as customer service, fraud detection, underwriting, risk management, personalization, and product development.
Chime believes that having closer control over the banking infrastructure will allow it to take advantage of these technologies more rapidly while continuing to operate within the regulatory framework applicable to banks.
Strengthening Resilience and Customer Trust
The acquisition is also expected to strengthen the resilience of Chime’s overall platform.
Stride already plays an important role in supporting Chime member accounts, meaning the two companies have developed established processes and operating relationships over the past seven years. Chime believes that moving from a partner relationship to ownership will create a more direct connection between its technology platform and the bank responsible for member accounts.
The company expects this structure to improve operational coordination and provide greater consistency across the banking experience.
Customer trust is another important consideration. As Chime seeks to become the primary financial account for more consumers, having direct ownership of its banking subsidiary could give customers greater clarity about the relationship between the Chime brand and the bank supporting their accounts.
Chime expects the combined platform to serve consumers across all 50 states while creating opportunities to expand its addressable market.
Eliminating Partner-Bank Costs and Improving Economics
The acquisition is expected to provide Chime with a meaningful structural cost advantage.
By owning Stride rather than continuing to rely on the institution as an external bank partner, Chime expects to eliminate certain sponsor-bank fees and reduce its overall funding costs. The company also anticipates that greater integration will improve unit economics as its customer base and product offerings continue to expand.
Chime estimates that the transaction will generate more than $100 million in net synergies. These savings are expected to come from several sources, including reductions in sponsor-bank fees, the expansion of lending products, and a lower cost of funds.
The company expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to earnings per share after closing, with additional financial benefits anticipated over time.
The $590 million transaction value represents approximately 1.5 times Stride’s tangible book value. Chime described Stride as a profitable and well-capitalized institution and said it expects to finance the acquisition using cash already on its balance sheet.
Importantly, Chime does not currently anticipate requiring an incremental capital contribution as part of the purchase.
A Seven-Year Banking Relationship
Stride Bank’s relationship with Chime dates back more than seven years, giving the two organizations substantial experience working together.
Founded in 1913 and headquartered in Enid, Oklahoma, Stride has more than a century of experience serving consumers, businesses, and financial technology companies. Its national charter, banking operations, and risk and compliance infrastructure have made it an important component of Chime’s banking model.
Chime member accounts already represent a significant source of deposits for Stride, demonstrating the scale of the existing relationship.
Stride Chairman and CEO Brud Baker said the bank’s long-standing relationship with Chime has provided its leadership team with an opportunity to observe the company’s member-focused approach. He expressed confidence that the acquisition would create opportunities for customers, employees, and communities.
Baker is expected to continue leading the bank after the transaction, which will operate under the Chime Bank, N.A. name.
Because the two companies already have established operational processes and a close working relationship, Chime expects the transition to be relatively smooth for customers and employees.
Faster Route to Full-Stack Banking Ownership
The acquisition also gives Chime what it describes as a faster and more established path toward bank ownership than attempting to establish an entirely new bank through a de novo charter application.
Building a new bank from the ground up can require significant time, investment, regulatory engagement, and infrastructure development. By acquiring an existing nationally chartered bank with an established operating history, Chime can potentially accelerate its transition toward a more integrated banking model.
Following the transaction, Chime expects to consolidate its banking activities within Stride, which will primarily support Chime’s consumer business.
Despite gaining ownership of the bank, Chime intends to maintain its payments-led and asset-light business model. The company also plans to manage its balance sheet carefully and expects its assets to remain below $10 billion for the foreseeable future.
Expanding Lending Capabilities
Another potential benefit of the acquisition involves Chime’s growing lending business.
Chime said that direct ownership of the bank could allow it to expand lending products more efficiently while maintaining its disciplined approach to underwriting.
The company expects the combination of its technology capabilities, customer relationships, and banking infrastructure to create opportunities for further product development.
Lending represents an important growth opportunity for digital banking platforms because it can increase revenue per customer while providing consumers with access to additional financial products. Chime’s strategy is to expand this area while maintaining disciplined underwriting standards.
The company believes that the acquisition will provide greater flexibility to develop and scale these products within its own banking ecosystem.
Chime Raises 2026 Financial Guidance
Alongside the acquisition announcement, Chime raised its financial expectations for the third quarter and full year of 2026.
For the third quarter, Chime now expects revenue of approximately $705 million, representing year-over-year growth of about 30%. The company expects adjusted EBITDA to fall between $117 million and $120 million, corresponding to an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 17%.
For the full year, Chime expects revenue to reach between $2.76 billion and $2.77 billion. That would represent year-over-year growth of approximately 26% to 27%.
Chime also expects full-year adjusted EBITDA of approximately $481 million to $489 million, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin between 17% and 18%.
The stronger financial outlook underscores the company’s confidence in its underlying business performance as it prepares for the proposed acquisition.
Commitment to Communities and Financial Opportunity
Chime said its commitment to consumers and communities will remain an important part of its strategy following the transaction.
The company has pledged 1% of its equity to the Chime Scholars Foundation, which has provided nearly $10 million in post-secondary scholarships to approximately 1,500 scholars over the past five years.
Following the acquisition, Chime and Stride intend to explore additional ways to expand their community impact across the country.
The companies’ combined resources could create opportunities to broaden financial education, community initiatives, and programs designed to support consumers seeking greater financial stability.
Regulatory Approvals Required
Although the boards of directors of both Chime and Stride have unanimously approved the transaction, the acquisition is not yet complete.
The deal is expected to close during the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
Among the required approvals are those from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Until the transaction closes, Chime and Stride will continue operating under their existing structures.
The regulatory review will be an important part of the process because the transaction involves the acquisition of a nationally chartered bank and would result in Chime owning a regulated banking subsidiary.
Financial and Legal Advisors
Chime has selected Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC as its exclusive financial advisor for the transaction. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as Chime’s legal counsel.
Stride is being advised by Piper Sandler & Co. as its financial advisor, while McAfee & Taft is serving as legal counsel.
The involvement of established financial and legal advisors reflects the scale and regulatory complexity of the proposed transaction.
Chime’s proposed $590 million acquisition of Stride Bank represents a significant change in the company’s long-term operating structure.
Rather than depending on a third-party bank partner, Chime would gain ownership of the banking institution supporting its consumer business. The move could give the company greater control over its products, technology integration, funding structure, compliance processes, and long-term strategic direction.
The acquisition also comes at a time when Chime is expanding its customer base, growing revenue, investing in artificial intelligence, and developing additional financial products.
For Stride, the transaction provides an opportunity to become part of one of the country’s prominent digital banking platforms while bringing its national charter, banking expertise, and experienced workforce into Chime’s broader organization.
If approved and completed as planned, the transaction will create Chime Bank, N.A., a wholly owned subsidiary that Chime expects to use as the foundation for its next phase of growth.
With more than 10 million Active Members, improving financial performance, an expanding lending business, and an increasingly technology-driven operating model, Chime is positioning the acquisition as more than a traditional bank transaction. The company views it as a strategic move toward building a more integrated digital banking platform designed to compete in an increasingly technology- and AI-driven financial services industry.
The proposed acquisition therefore represents a pivotal moment for Chime as it seeks to combine the advantages of a consumer technology company with the infrastructure and regulatory capabilities of a national bank. If the transaction receives the necessary approvals, Chime will enter 2027 with a significantly different organizational structure and greater control over the banking foundation supporting its business.
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