Best Credit Card to Build Credit: Chime® vs. Extra Debit Card

Chime’s Credit Builder card is a secured credit card designed to help you safely build credit.¹ There are no minimum security deposit requirements² and no monthly fees, that you may encounter with other secured credit cards.

So how does Chime help you build credit? By helping you establish credit history for the purchases you make every day, and by making regular on-time payments.¹ You can use the Credit Builder card anywhere Visa credit cards are accepted, and Chime reports your payments to the credit bureaus. Chime members see an average increase of 30 points⁴ to their credit scores while using the card. Key features of Chime’s Credit Builder card:

• $0 annual fee
• $0 maintenance fees
• $0 foreign transaction fees
• $0 interest charges†
• No credit check needed to apply for Chime’s Credit Builder card.
• No minimum security deposit requirement.² Instead, you decide your spending limit by moving money from your Checking Account into your Credit Builder secured account.

How to set up a Chime Credit Builder card?

If you have a Chime Checking Account, you’re eligible to apply.* Since there’s no credit check, the Chime Credit Builder card is ideal if you have limited or no credit history. If you don’t have a Chime Checking Account, you can apply for one in under two minutes.

Once your checking account is open, and you’ve applied for the Credit Builder card, you can move money from your Chime Checking Account to your Chime Credit Builder secured account.

Additional Chime Credit Builder card features

• Move My Pay: Automatically transfer part of your direct deposit to your Credit Builder secured account.
• Safer Credit Building: Make payments automatically, so you never have to worry about paying late.¹

Chime’s Credit Builder Card Advantages and Disadvantages

Credit Builder can help you grow your credit history with fewer hassles. With no credit check to apply, Credit Builder is accessible to a wide range of people who may be new to using credit or are looking to rebuild credit.

Advantages of Chime’s Credit Builder card:

• Bad credit or no credit won’t count against you
• Applying for the Chime Credit Builder card doesn’t hurt your credit scores
• No minimum security deposit,² so you don’t need to come up with a lot of cash at once
• $0 interest† or monthly fees
• Build credit history with all three major credit bureaus
• Control spending
• As a Visa credit card, it can be used wherever Visa is accepted.

Disadvantages of the Chime Credit Builder:

There is no rewards program, but that’s not unusual for secured credit cards. And if your goal is to get a card that helps build credit, forgoing a rewards program may not be a dealbreaker for you.

Extra is a debit card that builds credit and allows you to earn rewards on purchases. Extra is not a credit card. Instead, the Extra card connects to your bank account and will enable you to get credit for purchases you make.

You can connect an existing bank account to Extra, which works with over 10,000 banks. Extra gives you a spending limit based on your bank balance and other factors. When you swipe your card, Extra loans you the money, then pays itself back from your bank account the next day. Extra reports these purchases and payments to the credit bureaus at the end of the month.

Key features of Extra’s debit card

• Extra is a debit card that works with your bank; it’s not a secured credit card
• No credit check to apply for the Extra debit card
• Extra offers monthly and yearly subscription options:
  • Credit Building: $20/month or $149/year
  • Credit Building + Rewards: $25/month or $199/year
• Extra reports account activity to Experian^® and Equifax^® (but not TransUnion^®)
• No interest
• Upgraded membership includes additional benefits

The Extra debit card uses the money in your bank account to help you build credit. You won’t need an additional security deposit to open an account.

You can choose between a Credit Building account and a Rewards + Credit Building account. If you opt for rewards, you can earn up to 1% in points for everyday purchases. You can spend points on gift cards or merchandise in the Extra debit card rewards store.

Extra debit card Advantages and Disadvantages

The Extra debit card might appeal to you if you’re looking for a way to build credit without applying for a credit card. Extra can work with your existing bank account to help you build credit history based on your daily spending.

Advantages of the Extra debit card:

• No credit check to apply
• It’s not a credit card, so there’s no risk of creating debt
• Cardholders pay no interest
• You have an opportunity to earn rewards on purchases
• It’s possible to build credit with two out of the three major credit bureaus

Disadvantages of the Extra debit card:

First, there’s the monthly fee to consider. If you’re paying $20 per month for the Credit Building plan, that adds up to $240 per year on the monthly plan or $149 per year for the annual plan.

The Rewards + Credit Building plan is more expensive, at $300 per year on the monthly plan or $199 per year on the annual plan.

Earning rewards back on what you spend can help to offset the fee. But it’s important to be realistic about how much you might be able to earn in reward points based on your typical spending habits.

Also, Extra determines your spending power with the card. So you might have much less purchasing power with this card compared to what you might get with a traditional secured credit card.

Using secured credit cards to build credit can make sense if you cannot get approved for a traditional credit card. Whether it makes sense to choose Extra vs. Chime for building credit can depend on what you’re looking for in a card and how much flexibility you’d like to have in managing it.

Summary Comparison of Chime Credit Builder card vs. Extra debit card

Chime’s Credit Builder Credit Card could be the best secured option if you:

• Have a limited credit history and your main goal is to start building credit history
• Are looking for a secured credit card with no minimum security deposit requirement²
• Don’t want to pay interest† on purchases or annual fees
• Want to be able to control what you spend, with no pre-set spending limit
• Have a Chime Checking Account or plan to open one
• Are not concerned with earning rewards

The Credit Builder Secured Credit Card has the edge over the Extra debit card since it reports to all three of the credit bureaus. It also doesn’t have an annual or monthly fee.

Extra Debit card could be the best option if you:

Prioritize rewards over a no-monthly-fee account. The rewards program might be tempting, but it’s essential to weigh the rewards against the card’s monthly fee. If you can’t earn back enough in rewards to cancel out the fee you’re still paying for the card each month, then it likely won’t be worth the extra cost.

Using credit cards to build credit can be a convenient way to establish a credit history. Paying on time and keeping your balances low can help establish a solid foundation for a healthy credit score.

Chime’s Secured Credit Builder Credit Card makes it easy to build good credit¹ without high fees or interest charges.† The Extra debit card can help you build credit while also earning back a percentage of what you spend in rewards. Ultimately, the best card for you is the one that offers the smoothest path to building good credit.

Already have a Chime Checking Account? All you need to apply for Chime Credit Builder.

See how Chime Credit Builder stacks up against similar offerings from Capital One and Discover.