Ep. 266 | Sam Krause: "That's Not How Banking Works"—Why Chime Takes Risks Traditional Banks Avoid

**Episode 266:** In Bain's early 2026 Consumer Banking Benchmark, provided by NPS Prism, Chime had the highest NPS among the companies we measured. That raised a basic question: How does a financial technology company serving people who live paycheck to paycheck earn greater loyalty than institutions built around customers with much higher balances? Sam Krause is the Senior Vice President of Operations and Member Experience at Chime. As she explains, Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. "We are a FinTech. We partner with bank partners behind the scenes who hold all our deposits." Most Chime members already had bank accounts. The important distinction is between having access to an account and having a product designed around the way you actually live. Chime operates without branches, giving it lower fixed costs than traditional banks. Members who qualify can receive their paychecks up to two days early or use a free feature called SpotMe for up to $200 in fee-free overdrafts. Those benefits cost money and expose Chime to risks many traditional banks avoid. But about two-thirds of members use Chime as their primary account. Most of the company's revenue comes from interchange on daily card use. Helping members get access to their money sooner can increase usage, strengthening the economics that make those benefits possible. Sam also explains how Chime tries to turn "member obsession" into an operating discipline. NPS is one of the company's three highest-level goals. For example, competitive benchmarking exposed a gap in funding and transfers that internal data alone had not made urgent enough. Chime then combined the NPS Prism benchmark data with direct member feedback to identify the specific problems and change its priorities. The consequences can be intensely personal. Sam describes a member named Carmen who used SpotMe to put gas in her car so she could reach chemotherapy appointments scheduled shortly before her payday. Her story illustrates why a short-term liquidity problem that might look minor to a product team can matter enormously to the person experiencing it. In this episode, learn how Chime preserves member obsession as it grows and leverages better outcomes for members into greater usage, loyalty, and growth. Guest: Sam Krause, Senior Vice President, Operations & Member Experience Host: Rob Markey, Partner, Bain & Company Give us feedback: Customer Confidential Podcast Feedback Send us a note: Contact Rob **Timestamped Topics** 00:52 – Cutting insurance claim resolution from weeks to minutes shapes Sam's approach to customer experience 01:28 – Aligning the business model with what is best for customers 02:51 – Designing financial products for the two-thirds of Americans living paycheck to paycheck 03:25 – Giving members paychecks up to two days early and up to $200 in fee-free overdraft 05:40 – Using primary account relationships and interchange to make the economics work 08:03 – Taking risks traditional banks avoid to give members faster access to their money 09:04 – Distinguishing access to banking from helping customers gain financial control 12:13 – Designing simpler money-management tools for the 80% who are not natural planners 14:14 – Finding the two customer segments where the products have the strongest fit 18:38 – Seeing simplicity and ease of use emerge as the biggest drivers of promoters 19:41 – Helping members increase credit scores by 30 points on average over eight months 22:17 – Scaling customer obsession through employee bootcamps and direct customer listening 24:00 – Making NPS one of three company-level goals 30:30 – Using competitive benchmarks to prioritize funding and transfer problems 32:57 – Building trust in a digital model with 24/7 access to human support 39:30 – Hiring "hungry, humble, and smart" employees as the company scales 41:30 – Embedding company values into employee evaluation and coaching **Notable Quotes** 08:03 "We're willing to take that risk on behalf of our members." 09:04 "There's a difference between having access and having something that is actually helping you gain control of your finances and reach your financial goals and make financial progress." 15:52 "We figured it out. And it turns out when you can crack that, you gain a very large and very loyal member base." 26:31 "You shouldn't be surprised that senior executives lose interest in something like this if you are not doing the work to prepare it." 28:36 "At the end of the day, it's about the member perception and the member view." 32:36 "We have to do more than a traditional bank would because that's what our members need." Additional Resources about Chime: *How Chime is Leading the Way in Customer Loyalty:* https://www.bain.com/insights/how-chime-is-leading-the-way-in-customer-loyalty-snap-chart/ *What it Takes to Build the AI-Native Modern Bank:* https://www.bain.com/insights/what-it-takes-to-build-the-ai-native-modern-bank/ *How Analytics Can Deepen Banks' Customer Relationships:* https://www.bain.com/insights/how-analytics-can-deepen-banks-customer-relationships/