Chime acquires Salt Labs, launches employer-focused business unit

Chime has acquired Salt Labs to accelerate Chime’s growth through the employer channel.

The resources of Salt Labs, an enterprise technology company whose flagship product is employee rewards, will help attract new members to Chime’s banking services platform, the companies said in a Wednesday (June 26) press release.

“Through this acquisition, we will strive to work directly with employers to reach and introduce millions of consumers to the Chime platform,” Mark Troughton, Chime’s chief operating officer, said in the release. “We look forward to leveraging Salt Labs’ existing relationships with employers and building on Chime’s MyPay payroll access platform to further meet the needs of everyday people.”

With Chime, it will gain immediate access to the enterprise customer relationships Salt Labs has developed across industries including transportation, call centers, hospitality and parking.

With the acquisition, the Salt Labs team, led by company founder Jason Lee, will join Chime, according to the announcement.

Additionally, Chime will launch a new business venture called Chime Enterprise, to be led by Lee, which will aim to accelerate Chime’s growth through an employer channel beyond Salt Labs’ products, according to the release.

“We have always believed that financial progress starts with people and should be centered around the top financial account,” Lee said in a release. “We are excited to be a part of this next phase of growth at Chime and build the Chime Enterprise with the incredible team at Chime.”

In May, Chime announced that it had opened a waitlist for MyPay and would soon add the ability to access earned money to its banking app.

With MyPay, eligible Chime members will be able to access between $20 and $500 of their paychecks before payday each pay period; they will be able to see their available paycheck advance amount in the Chime app on their Chime checking account through MyPay; and they will be able to choose to have the funds deposited into their Chime checking account within two days for free or receive them instantly for a $2 fee, the company said in a press release at the time.

“Two-week pay cycles are outdated, and people need good ways to access money between paydays,” Chris Britt, CEO and co-founder of Chime, said in the release.