SAN FRANCISCO — Chime, a popular mobile banking app and debit card, experienced an outage that began on Wednesday and is continuing to give users problems as of Friday.
Upset customers reached out to Chime on Twitter after reporting their cards were not working and they could not access their app.
Our processor is experiencing issues, resulting in our app + website being down. We’re aware and are working with them to get it up and running ASAP. We apologize for the inconvenience.
— Chime (@Chime) October 16, 2019
Chime announced Wednesday that they were aware of the issues and attributed them to a processor, which didn’t leave customers feeling any better.
Our processor is experiencing issues, resulting in our app + website being down. We’re aware and are working with them to get it up and running ASAP. We apologize for the inconvenience.
— Chime (@Chime) October 16, 2019
This is insane I can't even log in I had to miss a day of work because I could use a lyft and got embarrassed when I went inside to why my money wasent working at a atm and someone started making fun of chime... Ugh today! Thanks chime for the communication :(
— Ashley Rae-Lynn Paris (RAWRimaMONSTER) (@AshleyRaeLynnP1) October 16, 2019
Some users reported that when they attempted to contact Chime, a prerecorded message falsely stated the debit cards would still work and that the outage didn’t impact all customers.
A day later, customers were still experiencing outages and had no access to the money in their accounts. Chime took to Twitter again to announce that card transactions were still down.
The banking app replied to angry customers assuring that, despite the issues, no data or deposits had been compromised, providing a link to receive updates on the status of the outage.
We can confirm that NO data or deposits have been compromised – all personal and transaction data is safe and secure. For real-time updates, you can check our status page here: https://t.co/7VwAlvuWaW
— Chime (@Chime) October 18, 2019
On Friday morning, the banking app reported that after two days of issues, purchases, ATM withdrawals, direct deposits, transfers and Chime checkbooks were working normally—but that wasn’t the end of the chaos.
After regaining access to their accounts, Chime customers began reporting missing money from their accounts, despite not having had access for days.
My balance has gone down $25 dollars in the past two days.. mind you I haven’t been able to use my debit card whatsoever .... what is going on..
— Chris (@chrissmii) October 18, 2019
Some users reported being short hundreds of dollars with no explanation as to why.
I'm missing about $100 and change on my account. How do I get that back?
— Paulina West (@IamPaulinaWest) October 18, 2019
$140 was taken from my account! I haven’t used my card till just a little bit ago. The transaction was $13! Give me my money back!!!!
— Clint Simpson (@clint_simpson) October 18, 2019
My account is negative $300 on top of the other money that disappeared from my spending account. WTF!! 😡
— City Boy By 🤬 (@IamMrConceited) October 18, 2019
Despite Chime assuring its customers that their accounts were secure, many expressed concerns that Chime had been hacked.
Chime sent out another tweet Friday evening stating that after receiving questions regarding account balances and their disparities, the app temporarily removed balance information until they could provide the most up to date balance.
The banking app assured that they take the matter seriously and are investigating the processor issue. They also assured customers that their money was safe.
We’ve received questions regarding account balances. We take this very seriously and are investigating with our processor. Balance information has been temporarily removed from the app until we can provide the most up to date balance. Thanks for your patience, your money is safe.
— Chime (@Chime) October 18, 2019
Still, customers were not satisfied with that answer and the fact that they have no access to their account balance.
I'm missing over $100 the notifications tell me I'm overdrafted. Card worked great this morning. This is getting really sketchy and scary. None of this is ok. I kept making excuses, but this is getting too much.
— Angel Garcia (@GuerrillaJokes) October 18, 2019
UMMM if my money is MISSING it's clearly NOT safe? Quit lying and do better.
— Tay☕ (@Taayyy_babe) October 18, 2019
My money not safe... The balance is not what it is supposed to be 😂 explain 200+ dollars missing from a $8 purchase in the cafe ?? How Sway? How ??
— JAY 👻 (@ImJaySpoooK) October 18, 2019
News 5 called Chime’s customer service line and got the following prerecorded message:
“Thanks for calling Chime. Card purchases, ATM withdrawals and direct deposits are all working as expected, however, we are currently experiencing technical issues with the Chime app. Also, you can receive your balance over the phone system. We are working to restore full app functionality as quickly as possible and are deeplysorry for the inconvenience. We are experiencing high call volumes and hold times are over 40 minutes.”
Customers impacted by the issues with Chime’s banking can email support@chimebank.com.
Chime has more than a million downloads on the Google play store and has a 4.7 rating with more than 62,000 reviews on the App Store.
The issues with the banking app are ongoing.
