Chime to Buy Stride Bank in $590 Million Cash Deal
The digital bank said the national charter and Stride’s infrastructure will underpin an end-to-end platform built for the AI era.
Chime (CHYM) agreed to acquire Stride Bank, N.A. for $590 million in cash, a deal that pairs the digital bank’s member relationships with a national charter and the operating rails that charter provides.
The transaction is all-cash and is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
Chime said the combination of its digital core, trusted brand, and primary account relationships with Stride’s national charter and bank infrastructure will create an end-to-end platform built for the AI era.
The company framed the purchase as a step toward a larger share of primary banking accounts rather than a bolt-on product line. Stride’s charter and team would sit beneath Chime’s existing member-facing stack, giving the digital bank a federally chartered institution to run its accounts through.
“We founded Chime because mainstream America deserved better banking,” said Chris Britt, CEO and co-founder of Chime. “Our member-aligned, technology-driven strategy will remain the same. This acquisition will make our proven model even stronger. By combining Chime’s leading brand and deep member relationships with Stride’s national charter and team, we will accelerate toward our vision to be the largest provider of primary bank accounts in America.”
The $590 million cash price is modest against the scale of the primary-account franchise Chime says it is building, and the company did not disclose a premium or an exchange ratio. The deal is a cash purchase of the bank, not a stock-for-stock merger, and the release did not describe Stride’s assets, deposits, or earnings.
Regulatory review will be the gating item. Both the OCC and the Federal Reserve must approve the combination before it can close in the first half of 2027.
Other digital lenders have moved in the same direction, pairing a technology platform with a chartered bank. WaFd, Inc. (WAFD) entered a $3.9 billion reverse merger with EverBank Financial Corp. in September 2026, with WaFd Bank merging into EverBank, N.A. under a national charter. Green Dot paired its deposit-gathering platform with CommerceOne Bank’s asset-generation capabilities in a 2025 transaction expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. Lesaka Technologies (LSAK) completed a combination with Bank Zero, a South African digital bank, in 2025. Chime’s purchase of Stride follows that pattern: a digital front end acquiring the charter and infrastructure that lets it operate as a full bank.