Chime · Strategy · Senior · 45 to 60 minutes

How should Chime make money without breaking trust?

Chime is a US financial technology company that offers app based consumer banking services through partner banks. Answer this product management case and get it graded line by line against a weighted rubric.

Strategy
Monetization
User empathy
Sequencing
Metrics

The situation

Chime's leadership has asked you, a senior PM working on the core account experience, to recommend how the company should monetize its main consumer banking product as it tries to win customers away from traditional banks. Large banks often earn meaningful revenue from overdraft charges and monthly account fees, but those same fees create frustration and distrust, especially for people managing tight or uneven cash flow. Chime sees a chance to stand for something different, but walking away from common fee streams could make the business harder to sustain before scale arrives. At the same time, a simple marketing promise will not be enough unless the actual product helps customers handle the moments when timing, balances, and bills do not line up. You need to propose a strategy that ties together customer value, monetization, and product design. The decision matters now because Chime is shaping its long term identity in a crowded market. Is it mainly a cheaper alternative to banks, or a product built around helping people manage cash flow better? Your recommendation must address near term revenue pressure, likely competitor response, and the risk of making a promise the product cannot reliably keep.

What to produce

A 2 page strategy memo.

Your answer must

Name the target customer segment and the specific cash flow problem Chime should solve first.
Compare at least two monetization approaches, including one that relies on common bank fee practices, and recommend one with clear reasoning.
Describe the product policies or features needed to make the chosen customer promise credible in day to day use.
Explain major risks, second order effects, and likely competitor reactions, with mitigations.
Define success metrics that cover both customer value and sustainable revenue in the first year.

Constraints

Chime is mobile first and does not have branch distribution.
You cannot assume a large paid marketing budget or a major regulatory change.
Any strategy must be simple enough for customers to understand and trust.
You need a credible path to sustainable revenue at scale, not growth with no business model.

Format

Use short headings and include a simple option comparison table.

How Chime actually played it

Explains how Chime avoided overdraft and monthly fees that big banks relied on and built the product around customer cash flow needs. It shows how the revenue model and the user promise were designed together.

Choose a revenue model that aligns with the user's pain
A rival's fee income can be your wedge
Pair the business model change with features that deliver the promise

Built from How Chime's "Revenue Model Revolt" Broke Every Banking Rule To Build The $25 Billion Anti-Bank Customers Love by Michael Goitein (Product Strategy Decoded).