Chime’s SpotMe feature is an industry first in terms of giving customers room to overdraft their accounts without charging them for it. Most customers know the feature to cover them when they make debit card purchases, but how do you use Chime SpotMe without the card?
Unfortunately, there is no way to use the Chime SpotMe feature without the Chime debit card. SpotMe only works on debit card purchases and cash withdrawals, two things you need the debit card for.
If you don’t have your Chime debit card on you, you can still use the SpotMe feature through using your card through a digital wallet. Simply waive your mobile device with your Chime card in your digital wallet over a contactless card reader and the SpotMe feature should kick in.
It doesn’t kick in in a lot of areas across Chime. You can’t use the SpotMe feature to send people money on Chime or off of it, send ACH transfers, or write checks through Chime’s Checkbook feature.
Chime’s SpotMe feature can only be used in very specific instances. To even qualify for it, you’ll need to receive and activate Chime’s debit card anyways.
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Can I Use SpotMe for Cash App?
As Chime’s SpotMe feature is popular, many fintech app users wonder if they can use it in their other favorite apps.
The short answer is no, you can’t use SpotMe in Cash App or any other fintech apps for that matter.
SpotMe only works within Chime for debit card purchases made through the Chime debit card or cash withdrawals.
It doesn’t work for transfers to other Chime users, or to Cash App users through Chime’s Pay Anyone feature.
If you need to give someone money from your Chime account to their Cash App account, you could use Chime’s Pay Anyone feature to get the funds sent over, unless you didn’t have the balance available.
If you don’t have the balance available, you could always withdraw it as cash, using the SpotMe feature to cover what you don’t have, and giving the cash to the person you want to pay.
Cash is covered through SpotMe, transfers are not.
How to Use Chime Virtual Card to Use Chime SpotMe Without a Card
When we get cards in the mail, it’s hard to wait until we receive them to want to start using them.
Luckily, Chime doesn’t make you wait long with their virtual card.
If you get a Chime card coming in the mail, you can add it to your digital wallet before you ever receive it. While it’s in your digital wallet, you can use it just about anywhere.
To add your Chime card to your digital wallet, start by heading to the Chime app.
Click on the settings button in the upper left corner of the home screen. From the settings page, scroll down until you find the debit card section.
The debit card section contains everything you could need to manage your debit card through Chime.
You can freeze your account, stopping any transactions before they can be completed. You can do the same for international transactions, never allowing them until you choose to.
You can also view your temporary card from this screen. Your temporary card is what you can use while you wait on your physical card in the mail.
You can add it straight to any digital wallets you own and use it right away, there’s no fee involved at all.
The temporary card goes away once you’ve activated your regular card.
But until then, you can enjoy using it in your Apple Wallet, Samsung Wallet, or whatever digital wallet you use.
It’s accepted anywhere Visa is, and you can type the temporary card number into online marketplaces to complete orders over the internet.
The app will display everything you need to complete a transaction: the card’s numbers, expiration date, and security code.
Where Can I Withdraw Cash from Chime for Free and Active SpotMe?
Chime users with the Chime card can withdraw cash from their account at ATMs.
Many ATMs have a fee for using them out of network, and sometimes your financial institution may charge you for using an ATM as well.
Does Chime have locations where you can get cash for free?
Yes they do. You can withdraw directly from your Chime account for free at any MoneyPass ATM located inside a 7-Eleven.
You can also withdraw for free from any Allpoint or Visa Plus Alliance ATM.
Chime’s website has a handy ATM locator as well, so if you’re ever wondering where you can go to make a free withdrawal using Chime, head to their website.
They also have the same ATM map within their app.
You can open the Chime app and click on the last tab on the bottom of the screen, helpfully labeled “ATM Map”.
Click on that to see both where you can make fee-free withdrawals and where you may have to pay.
How to Use Chime Virtual Card and SpotMe in Store?
Once you’ve added your Chime virtual card to your digital wallet, you can use it wherever contactless purchases are accepted.
If you’re an Apple Pay user, you can use your Chime card like you would any other card in your digital wallet.
First open your wallet app on your mobile device, then select your Chime card.
If you have a PIN on your phone that protects your digital wallet, enter it to move forward.
Scan your card over the contactless card reader until you hear a beep.
After the machine makes a beep, it may ask you to enter your Chime PIN as well.
Once the PIN is entered, you should be able to use your virtual Chime card in a store to complete your purchases.
Can I Add Money to Chime Without a Card?
Chime users, and other online bank customers, often wonder how to put money into their accounts.
Fintech companies aren’t like physical banks that have branches you can go to to make a deposit, they’re entirely online, so how do you add money to them?
Chime gives their customers plenty of ways of getting funds into their account, even without the Chime debit card.
If you’re looking for a way to fund your account, linking and using an external bank account might be the right way.
The process is quick, secure, and easy.
To link your bank account to Chime, simply head to the Chime app and click on the Move Money tab.
It’s the second tab of the four towards the bottom. From there, you’ll click on a button that says Transfer from other banks.
If you don’t already have an account linked, Chime will ask you to link one.
They’ll provide you with a list of popular banks you can choose from, and if you don’t see your bank on the initial list you can search for your own using the search bar.
Chime uses Plaid to link accounts to their service. If you don’t know, Plaid is a service that is used by almost every major fintech company that wants to link their service to external bank accounts.
Plaid makes sure the connection is legitimate, secure, and stable before you conduct business on Chime.
Plaid will let you log in using your bank’s online portal.
If your bank does online banking, and you’re enrolled with a username and password, you can log in using them and have Plaid connect your account automatically for you.
If you don’t want to use Plaid, or don’t use your bank’s online portal, no worries. You can still get connected through your account’s routing number and account number.
Enter them manually into Chime, let them know the name of your bank and the name on the account, and they should be able to make the connection for you.
Once your accounts are connected you can transfer between the two of them for free.
Chime is one of the slower fintech companies I’ve used.
I transferred some money from my Chase account into Chime for this article and it says it’ll take a full week to arrive.
If that’s too long for some customers, you may need to consider using another app.
Luckily, funding your account through a linked checking account isn’t the only way to fund your Chime account.
You can also move over your direct deposit, getting access to Chime’s benefits that come with moving over your direct deposit.
Chime will let you access up to $200 of your paycheck two days early once they’ve been receiving it on a regular basis.
They will also grant you access to their SpotMe feature, allowing you to overdraft your account without a fee.
You can reroute your direct deposit using a form Chime can provide you or you can take your Chime routing number and account number to your employer and have them enter the numbers into their system.
Chime will also let you control how much of your direct deposit you want to bring over to the fintech company. You can bring a percentage of your check, a specific dollar amount, or the whole thing!
It should be known that the more you bring over to Chime through direct deposit, the more likely they are to increase your SpotMe limit.
You can also deposit checks straight into the Chime app.
All you have to do is take a picture of the front and back, make sure it’s negotiable, and within a couple of days Chime will add the check to your account’s balance.
The last way of adding money to your Chime account is through transfers from other users. You can receive money from other Chime users in an instant, all for free.
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