JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Our Navigating Florida’s Unemployment Maze Facebook group is still going strong. Our Leah Shields moderates the group and noticed some posts about money asking people to “boost them” via Chime.
QUESTION: Is it legit? Let's verify.
ANSWER: Yes!
SOURCES: My sources today are Chime, the financial technology app and Nerd Wallet.
People have been writing posts on Facebook along the lines of “Can someone boost me?” They include a username as well. We can confirm this is not a scam, but it’s not free money either.
“It’s all legit," said Vineet Mehra, Chime's Chief Marketing Officer. "We want to create a community that helps each other. That takes care of each other.”
Mehra explains when people post stuff like this they’re talking about the boost me feature.
Chime is targeted at people who live paycheck to paycheck. Mehra says they don’t charge a fee for over-drafting up to $200, but when someone needs groceries and their paycheck hasn’t dropped, that’s when boost comes in.
“If I’m a Chime member, I can actually boost another chime member and give them an extra 5 bucks for that month," Mehra said. "So like hey, I am five bucks short this month or 20 bucks short this month. Can anyone boost me this month?"
Mehra explains this doesn’t come out of members' pockets.
"We allow our members to boost people – to increase their overdraft limit – for the month if that makes sense," Mehra explained.
Each account gets 4 boosts every month. They can give those away for free to other members. That’s why people online may post stuff asking for a boost.
This is verified.
Mehra explains that all transactions happen in their secured app and is safe.
Nerd Wallet says Chime is more of a financial technology company than a bank, but it is secured by the FDIC.