People dislike traditional banks. And for good reason. They’ve historically taken advantage of everyday people by charging punitive fees and are out of touch with their needs. Chime aims to change that.
As an innovator in the industry, we were one of the first to offer fee-free overdraft. Most recently, we launched MyPay®, which aims to transform how Americans get paid. It offers members receiving direct deposit a way to get up to $500 of their pay on demand anytime they need before their next paycheck within 24 hours with no mandatory fees, no credit check, and no interest.
We identified this challenge not just as a product opportunity, but as a chance to fundamentally — and creatively — transform how Americans access their pay.
The goal of our campaign was not only to roll out MyPay, but also drive growth and brand awareness, focused on several key areas:
The MyPay IMC campaign, our biggest launch in company history, highlighted a powerful truth: the traditional pay cycle serves institutions rather than individuals. As a solution, MyPay was built on a simple, bold promise: "Get Paid When You Say™."
To bring this promise to life, we ignited a movement with a holistic campaign that included full-funnel brand and direct response advertising strategically deployed across multiple-channels, in concert with experiential and social activations:
Direct Response: Our campaign’s direct response strategy combined deep consumer understanding with cultural relevance. Designed to move consumers through clear action steps: from waitlist signup to direct deposit enrollment and ultimately MyPay activation, our strategic funnel approach resulted in millions joining our waitlist pre-launch, delivering Chime’s highest referral month ever.
Not only that, our campaign drove sustainable behavior change, with the majority of eligible new and existing members adopting MyPay almost immediately. New members joining Chime to get MyPay exhibited a significantly higher conversion rate than those joining for other reasons, supporting our belief that creative messaging could fundamentally shift consumer banking behavior.
Earned Activations: Challenged Americans to ask: ‘Why do we accept the wait for payday?’ and declared that Chime is unlocking America’s paycheck. Our segment on GMA and nationwide experiential tour featuring a semi-truck-sized vault symbolizing the $340 billion trapped in pay cycles generated over 1 million sweepstakes entries.
TV Ads: Our 30-second TV spot, “Get Paid When You Say,” built awareness and drove enrollment. It included Shaboozey's #1 hit song, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” and member testimonials that highlighted the real-life benefits of not waiting to get paid.
Brand Media: Launched MyPay ads with the highest reach/frequency plan in Chime history, including high-impact TV placements during NFL Opening Night and the Emmys, and 600+ DOOH placements including Times Square, that generated 282 million impressions and amplified our question: “Why wait for payday?” We also rolled out key digital and social elements across Meta, Snapchat, YouTube, Twitch and key retail media platforms, in addition to Spotify audio and video ads that celebrate that payday feeling. TV moments drove 60-80% lift in brand search impressions and our organic landing page received over 1.6 million visits.
Social Media and Influencers: Partnered with influential Twitch creator Kai Cenat (most subscribed Twitch streamer in the world) and TikToker Zach King (6th largest TikToker in the world and creator of the most watched TikTok post ever) to drive cultural relevance, build hype and get the internet excited about MyPay, earning record-breaking social engagement, with our launch video surpassing 155 million views and 332.5M total video views across platforms.
Our campaign's impact transcended traditional marketing metrics, achieving immediate business objectives and broader cultural change.
Results exceeded expectations: With billions of total impressions, our unaided awareness received a significant jump, consideration increased, and new enrollments that month were one of the highest in Chime’s history.
Most importantly, we shifted the conversation around pay cycles; MyPay signup intent grew significantly in just one quarter — representing the biggest shift in products driving consumer decisioning year-to-date. Ultimately, our integrated campaign delivered much higher enrollment rates versus non-MyPay ads, meaning members who visited Chime.com off a MyPay value prop were far more likely to actually sign up, vs members who visited Chime.com off ads promoting other value props.
Our social engagement broke previous records, with our launch video surpassing 155 million views and achieving 332.5 million total video views across platforms. Our campaign earned recognition from industry leaders and mainstream media alike, including coverage on Good Morning America and inclusion in TIME's World's Best Brands List.
Through strategic integration across experiential, broadcast, digital, and social channels, we didn't just launch a product — we sparked a cultural movement to democratize access to earned wages and dismantle antiquated banking norms.
Chime® is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.
