Chime celebrates Women’s History Month: Financial empowerment for women

Rebecca Pechette (she/her/hers), a Chime Content Ops Lead, remembers her great grandmother very well: “She lived independently into her nineties and single-handedly raised her four children at a time when women weren’t supporting households like they do now,” she says. “She taught me about opening a bank account, the importance of taking public transit, and how to manage my finances so I’ll always have a foot to stand on.”

Rebecca’s great grandmother, although early to the game, is an example of women taking charge of family finances — which happens a lot. In fact, women make the lion’s share of financial decisions, controlling on average ⅔ of financial spending decisions. With these facts in mind, and in honor of Women’s History Month, we wanted to take a look at the different relationships women at Chime have with their finances and the ways they’ve found to feel financially empowered.

Women and the lessons we’re taught about financial responsibility

In our interviews with just four Chimers, we saw how wide-ranging women’s childhood experiences of financial responsibility can be. From having a female role model who runs the show to mother figures who weren’t involved in financial decision-making at all, everyone’s experience — and, therefore, perspective — is different. Here’s a look at several of their stories about finances in their childhoods:

Strong female role models

Like Rebecca, Swaroopa Vantipalli (she/her/hers), a Chime Senior QA Engineer, had a strong woman financial role model growing up. “It was my mother’s role to manage our financial responsibilities,” she explains. “She was a single parent and high school dropout, and when my father passed away, we had no savings. My mother didn’t know anything about our finances at the time or have a job, but she made ends meet with our earnings from some land we owned.”

To do so, her mother kept a ledger where she recorded everything, being strict about spending to make sure they’d never go without. And when Swaroopa would go to the bank with her mother, she’d notice the security guard helping her write checks. “Once I got to high school, I started writing the checks instead,” she says.

Conservative practices

For Maia Bittner (she/her/hers), a Manager of the Voice of the Member team, growing up meant saving money. “Both of my parents run small businesses and my dad is a financial advisor,” she says. “They were always great at saving money while still providing us with great experiences, such as our regular trips to Hawaii. We’d camp on the beach instead of staying at hotels and eating at restaurants — a huge saving on costs while still being a wonderful family vacation.”

A lack of financial literacy

And for Moti Phillips (she/her/hers), Chime’s Culinary Program Manager, learning financial literacy came later in life. “My dad took care of the finances and paid the bills,” she explains. “It wasn’t until my twenties that I started to learn about managing my finances. It was actually a close group of girlfriends who empowered me to take ownership of my financial future. They gave me books, online resources and just generally offered support and validation that this is a really hard subject to navigate.”

How to feel empowered about your finances

Regardless of their childhood experiences, these four Chime women have since learned a ton about how to feel empowered in their finances — instead of stressed, overwhelmed, or like they can’t talk about them. The reality is, taking control of financial responsibility and decision-making is a truly empowering experience and it creates a virtuous cycle, too. Here are their tips for getting a handle on your finances and feeling empowered while you’re at it.

1. Awareness is empowering: “Staying aware of your financial situation is the ultimate source of empowerment. Just as you might know what you need from the grocery store to make a recipe you’re trying for dinner, knowing what you have in your bank account — resources — and your sources of income or outgoing costs can help you from feeling stressed about money.” — Swaroopa
2. Keep your savings high and checking low(er): “When I see a lot of money in my checking account, my brain seems to think I can spend it, so I keep a specific amount — around $250 — in my checking account to help me save, not spend, more. Anytime money goes into my checking account, I push it to my savings, investments, or to pay off my credit card.” — Maia
3. Plan for the future: “I made a critical financial error in my late 20’s when I borrowed against my credit card at an astronomical interest rate. I didn’t fully understand what interest was or how it worked. Since then, I’ve learned the importance of planning for the future and making thoughtful financial decisions for my future self. It can be hard to think about investing in your future since you won’t always reap the benefits right away. I’ve found that thinking about financial decisions as investments in ‘future me’ help me see my future self in a really positive light.” — Moti
4. Talk about it — finances shouldn’t be taboo: “If a restaurant is great, we tell our friends, write reviews, and talk about it. If an investment has rewarded me, why wouldn’t I talk about it with my friends? Talking about money has always been taboo, but for me, a way I feel empowered is by sharing my financial experiences so others can learn from them — and so I can learn from others, too. After all, finances are a part of all of our daily lives and when we talk about them, we become more comfortable with them.” — Swaroopa
5. Set your guardrails and stick to them: “I’ve found that setting specific guidelines ahead of spending helps me make decisions I feel comfortable with. For example, I love notebooks — which are not usually a huge expense — and set myself the rule that I can buy a notebook whenever I want to. That way, I don’t have to think about it or feel guilty when I buy as many notebooks as I want. The same doesn’t apply to pricier items, of course — but knowing that ahead of time helps me stick to healthy habits that I can afford comfortably.” — Maia
6. Embrace and engage with your finances: “A lot of the time, when it comes to money, you don’t want to open your banking app because you don’t want to see your balance — and I’m very familiar with that avoidance. Getting through that feeling and finding fun or power in knowledge about your finances has been a game-changer for me. It can be hard to do because money is inevitably emotional, but I’ve learned that in order to get through something you have to walk through it, not over or under it — and that’s true of our finances, too. I recommend always engaging with your finances, checking them, and having a consistent relationship with them. After all, finances are an important piece of our mental health and the more we can get to know them, the stronger we’ll be at handling them.” — Moti
7. If possible and within your means, find information and hire a planner: “As I moved through my career and achieved a baseline level of financial security, I wanted to be more proactive. I sought out financial information and hired a planner who could help me make decisions that will set me up for success. Experts are great resources and it’s ok to admit you’re not an expert in your own finances. Finding someone to partner with on my money planning empowered me to make better decisions without fearing my own financial knowledge gaps.” — Rebecca

Empowering other women to take control of their $$$

While these four women have found ways to feel empowered in their personal finances, they’ve also found careers through which they help others feel financially empowered. “It’s pretty empowering to know that the work I’m doing at Chime directly affects other women’s — and people’s — ability to take care of their finances in a way that feels approachable, doable, and encouraging,” says Maia.

For Swaroopa, who remembers times when her family was short on cash and her mother would ask friends or family for small loans, SpotMe is a feature she loves seeing members use. “I remember having to ask different people for money depending on who we’d asked the previous time,” she says. “SpotMe makes spotting small amounts of money feel less taboo, which I love.”

For Maia, it’s how easy it is for members to sign up for Chime from their phones. “The reality is, women’s finances are often tied up with who they’re married to, and Chime empowers them to make their own account for free and without anyone else involved,” she says. “Features like Credit Builder help women — who historically have had worse credit scores than men, often credited to pay inequity — build credit for themselves,” she adds. “And with women doing 70% of consumer spending, I’m proud that Chime features serve them by eliminating fees and empowering them to take control of their financial responsibilities.”

The reality is, financial responsibility doesn’t always feel empowering, but we at Chime hope to change that. It’s Chimers’ stories, like those from Maia, Moti, Rebecca, and Swaroopa, that will help us achieve our mission of making financial peace of mind a reality for everyone. We hope you feel as inspired and empowered from hearing them as we do.