Chime Cuts 10% of Workforce in AI Pivot

Chime Financial plans to lay off about 150 people, or 10% of its workforce, Bloomberg reported Friday (July 31), citing a memo to employees from Chime CEO and Co-Founder Chris Britt.

Reached by PYMNTS, Chime declined to comment on the report.

In an excerpt from the memo obtained by PYMNTS, Britt said that as Chime enters “the next era,” the company needs new skills to harness the benefits of artificial intelligence, smaller teams to move faster and get things done, and the accelerated growth and operating discipline required of public companies.

“Today we’re making changes across the company to organize for this next chapter,” Britt said in the memo. “In some areas, that means a flatter structure and smaller squads. In others, it means building new capabilities.”

Chime said in a Wednesday (July 29) post on X that it was included in a recent Bain & Company report as an example of a company that rebuilt its customer service around AI.

In a follow-up post, Chime said: “As many as 70% of Chime support interactions now run through voicebots and chatbots. Chatbots resolve about 75% of those conversations; voicebots resolve 66% of the calls where members choose self-service.”

PYMNTS reported in May that during Chime’s first-quarter earnings call, the executive commentary emphasized AI as an operational feature across the platform’s back end.

The company said AI-assisted coding increased from approximately 29% to 84% of code shipped internally over a four-month period, which management said improved product velocity while allowing headcount growth to remain relatively flat.

Chime also indicated during the call that AI-driven efficiencies contributed to operating leverage during the first quarter, helping expand margins while continuing to scale new products and services.

It was reported Sunday (July 26) that American tech companies have cut close to 140,000 jobs this year amid record AI spending. Those reductions account for more than a third of this year’s announced layoffs in the U.S., according to the report.

On Tuesday (July 28), Visa confirmed a report that it is cutting about 2,600 jobs, or 7% of its workforce, primarily from its technology and product teams, to reinvest in consumer payments, commercial and money movement solutions, and value-added services such as stablecoin, cross-border and B2B offerings. The report said the cuts were enabled in part by AI.