Chime Financial Inc. has been evaluating the prospect of embedding stablecoin functionality directly into its consumer banking application, according to people familiar with the matter and a document outlining the initiative. The San Francisco-based fintech initiated a request for proposals in late spring, inviting blockchain technology companies to propose "end-to-end" stablecoin wallet services.
Among the firms that held discussions with Chime was Rain, a startup focused on stablecoin infrastructure, several of the people said. The conversations were part of Chime's effort to gather technical and service proposals from vendors that could support stablecoin wallets within a mainstream banking app.
Stablecoin wallets are digital accounts used to send and receive tokenized dollars. Integrating such wallets into Chime's app would let customers access those digital assets directly through their existing bank accounts, rather than having to sign up for a separate account with a third-party crypto exchange or wallet provider. In that sense, embedding the wallet would reduce the need for users to maintain additional accounts to transact in stablecoins.
Stablecoins are a class of cryptocurrencies typically pegged to the U.S. dollar and, as noted by those familiar with Chime's activity, have grown more prominent over the past year. Established financial firms have increasingly been looking at stablecoins as a potential means to provide faster payments that operate around the clock.
The matter described by the people and document appears to be exploratory: Chime requested proposals and held vendor conversations, but the information available does not indicate whether the company has made any final decisions or set a timeline for deployment. The discussions with providers such as Rain were cited by sources involved in or informed about the outreach.
For now, the development signals that stablecoins are being considered for use cases beyond crypto markets, with consumer-facing payment products under evaluation by mainstream fintech platforms.