Chime Spot Me® is a great feature that allows you to overdraft without any fees. With Chime SpotMe, you can spot yourself cash or pay expenses exceeding your balance up to your Chime Spot Me Limit. However, if you have run into a situation where Chime Spot Me not working, you are on the right post to get the reasons and potential solutions.
While Chime Spot Me automatically works for any transaction when using your Chime Debit Card, there are some transactions that are not supported.
You do need to make sure you have the Chime Spot Me activated in the app and the transaction is within Chime Spot Me available balance.
It could be an issue where Chime Spot Me is not working in general or specific to the transaction you are undertaking.
Let’s examine the common reasons why Chime Spot Me may not work in your case. We will also cover some potential solutions that you can explore.
Contents
Chime Spot Me Not Working [Reasons]
- Transaction Exceeds your Chime Spot Me Limit
- Transaction is not Allowed with Chime Spot Me
- Transaction exceeds the retailer limit [for cash back transactions]
- You have disabled Chime Spot Me on the app
- Chime debit card is not enabled for transaction
- You are not using the right Chime Card
- You have not received the qualifying direct deposit to continue using Chime Spot Me
Transaction Exceeds your Chime Spot Me Limit
This can be one reason why your Chime Spot Me is not working. There could be many scenarios that could cause your Spot Me Limit to be exceeded.
- Spot Me limit may have been changed by Chime, causing it to be exceeded
- You may have used part of Spot Me Limit in some other transaction, thereby reducing the balance available to cover a transaction
If a transaction exceeds your Chime Spot Me Limit, it is declined. You should get a message or notification on your mobile in such cases saying “Your Card was declined for $_ at _ because your new balance would exceed Chime Spot Me limit of $_.”
You can check the available Spot Me balance by scrolling down at the Chime App Home Feed, at any time.
You can check this post which talks about a few ways you can explore which may help to increase your Chime Spot Me limit.
Transaction is Not Allowed on Chime Spot Me
Another possible reason for Chime Spot Me not working issue is that you are attempting to use Chime Spot Me for a transaction that is not allowed. As per Chime SpotMe Rules, Chime Spot Me is not allowed for certain transactions as per terms of usage. You cannot use Chime Spot Me for the following transactions:
- Pay Friends transfers i.e. transferring money to friends using Chime
- Automatic bill payments using Direct Debit from Chime Spending Account
- Transfers to other apps like Venmo and Cash App
- Chime Checkbook transactions i.e. sending physical checks through Chime
For such transactions, Chime SpotMe cannot help you. It is better you instead get cash from Spot Me by withdrawing cash from ATM or by performing Cash Back by using Chime Spot Me.
Transaction exceeds the retailer store cash back limit or not triggered [for cashback transaction only]
This reason is specific to the scenario where you are attempting to get cash back using Chime Spot Me by making a purchase at retail stores like Walmart etc.
Here there could be two scenarios where Chime Spot Me Cash back does not work
The transaction is within your Chime Spot Me Limit but exceeds the retailer limit for cash back.
This may be another issue that comes up, not directly relating to Chime. Some retailers have their own individual limits for cash-back which may turn out to be lower than your Spot Me Limit. For E.g. Walmart’s cash-back limit is $100.
Your existing balance is sufficient for purchase and does not trigger a cash back option
In such cases, the Chime Cash back option does not get triggered if your existing balance is already sufficient to cover the purchase transaction. It is only when the transaction amount causes your Chime balance to go into negative, it triggers the option to get cash back.
Eg. if you have $10 in your Chime account balance and buy an item for say $8, it won’t trigger the cash back option as the existing balance is sufficient to cover it. However, if you have say only 50 cents in your account and buy some low-cost item for say 2 dollars, this could trigger Chime to provide cash back option.
You may have disabled the Chime Spot Me option in the app
This reason, though rare, can happen when you may have accidentally disabled the Chime Spot Me option in the app.
Make sure you have it turned on in the Chime App-> Settings
Your Chime debit card is not enabled for transaction
Another rare reason for not being able to use Chime Spot Me. If you have recently got your Chime card, it may be a possibility that you have not activated it in the app to be able to use it for purchases and cash-back
You are using the wrong Chime Card
For Chime Users who also hold Chime Credit Builder Card, in addition to Chime Debit Card, this can be an issue. In case you are attempting to use Chime Spot Me on the Credit Card (the green-colored one), it does not work.
The Chime Spot Me feature is only available for Chime Debit Card.
You have not maintained the qualifying direct deposit to continue using Chime Spot Me (in the last 34 days)
To be able to get activate and continue to have access Chime Spot Me feature, you need to have received a direct deposit of at least $200 or more, in your Chime Checking Account in the last 34 days.
If you initially had access to Chime Spot Me but have no longer received a qualifying direct deposit in the last 34 days, Chime may discontinue the service at its discretion. This may have been the reason for your Chime Spot Me not working.
Qualifying Direct Deposit” is a deposit by Automated Clearing House (ACH) that comes from your employer, payroll provider, gig economy payer, or benefits payer OR a deposit by Original Credit Transaction (OCT) from your gig economy payer.
Bank ACH transfers, Pay Friends transfers, verification or trial deposits from financial institutions, peer to peer transfers from services such as PayPal, Cash App, or Venmo, mobile check deposits, cash loads or deposits, one-time direct deposits, such as tax refunds and other similar transactions are not Qualifying Direct Deposits.
Wrap Up
Hopefully, this list helped you identify what could be the reason for your Chime Spot Me not working. You can also get in touch with the Chime Support team to help resolve the issue and restore your access to Chime Spot Me.
