US-based mobile banking platform Chime secured $18m on Wednesday in a series B round featuring Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, the corporate venture capital subsidiary of insurance firm Northwestern Mutual.
Cathay Innovation, a VC fund managed by private equity firm Cathay Capital, led the round, which included Crosslink Capital, Aspect Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Homebrew and Omidyar Network.
Founded in 2013, Chime provides customers with fee-free banking through a mobile app and a Visa debit card. It makes money through merchant fees on debit card transactions, and has opened more than 500,000 accounts since its product launched in 2014.
The funding will be used to grow the company, introduce new services and launch new features including more automation options for customers.
Chime raised $8m in a 2014 round led by Crosslink Capital that included Homebrew, Forerunner Ventures and PivotNorth Capital, and all four returned for a $9m round in May 2016 that was led by Aspect Ventures with participation from angel investor Zander Lurie.
Chris Britt, Chime’s founder and CEO, said: “Look at any of the headlines these days and it is clear that traditional US banks continue to fail millions of Americans with adversarial practices and opaque fee structures.
“This financing allows us to rapidly scale a new approach to mobile banking that actually improves financial lives.”