About 40% of Americans don't own any stock (see disclosure 1) . The barriers aren’t about knowing investing is important — they’re about knowing where to begin, balancing immediate financial priorities, and feeling confident enough to take the first step.
Those constraints can make investing feel like something to pursue later, when you have more money, time, or expertise.
Building Chime InvestTM taught us that access alone isn’t enough. Financial products must build confidence, reduce friction, and support people through changing goals and setbacks. When tools are clear, approachable, and grounded in everyday life, they can turn curiosity into confidence and confidence into lasting progress.
Here are three things we learned. (see disclosure )
1. Meet members wherever they are in their financial journey
The conventional story of financial progress is linear: stabilize your finances, build savings, and then begin investing. Real life rarely follows such a clean sequence.
Financial journeys are deeply personal and nonlinear. One member might build an emergency fund while investing a small amount for the future. Another may already have a workplace retirement plan but want to choose other investments directly. Someone else may move between saving and investing as their income, expenses, and priorities change.
There is no single “right” way into investing.
We built Chime Invest as part of a broader product suite that can support members across these different moments. Chime already helps members get paid, spend, save, and manage short-term needs. Investing extends that relationship toward longer-term goals, giving members another way to work toward progress without leaving behind the financial tools they use today.
2. Investing starts with confidence and confidence grows through habit
Supporting different financial journeys requires more than offering the right products. Members also need to feel ready to use them.
For someone who hasn’t invested before, even basic questions can feel intimidating: How much should I invest? What should I buy? What happens if the market falls? Am I financially ready to start?
That uncertainty can lead to analysis paralysis. So we didn’t define product simplicity only by the number of steps required to place a trade. We also considered whether members could understand their choices and feel confident about the decisions they made.
Getting started is only the first step. The long-term potential of investing comes from participating consistently. When investing feels familiar — something members can understand, revisit, and incorporate into how they already manage their money — it has a better chance of becoming a lasting financial habit.
3. Reducing friction can turn intention into action
Even when someone feels ready to invest, practical barriers can still turn intention into delay. Every extra app, account, transfer, or fee creates another reason to put off getting started. We designed Chime Invest to remove those barriers.
Funding: Investing often requires opening a separate account, connecting an outside bank, transferring funds, and waiting for the money to arrive. Chime Invest lives where members already get paid, spend, and save. Members can invest directly from their existing Chime balance without an external connection or separate funding process.
One investing hub: Self-directed investing and Managed Portfolios live in one account. Members can choose the level of control or guidance that fits their needs and view their investments side by side without tracking separate products and balances.
Cost: Self-directed investing with Chime Invest is commission-free (see disclosure 2) . While many robo-advisors charge an annual advisory fee of about 0.25%, Chime Invest Managed Portfolios have no advisory fee for Chime Prime members (see disclosure 3) and a discounted 0.10% annual advisory fee for Chime Plus members.
While this launch is a huge milestone for Chime and for our members, it is not the finish line. In fact, it’s just the beginning. We look forward to continuing to grow and improve this product over the months and years to come.
