CHYM vs DAVE: How Chime Financial, Inc. and Dave Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CHYM and DAVE share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CHYM and DAVE exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. It runs a mobile app that gives roughly 10.4 million active members a checking-style spending account, a savings account, a secured credit builder card, fee-free overdraft (SpotMe), early wage access (MyPay), small Instant Loans and, since 2026, a commission-free investing product (Chime Invest). The actual deposit accounts sit at two partner institutions, The Bancorp Bank and Stride Bank, both small enough to be exempt from the Durbin Amendment's interchange caps. That exemption is the economic engine: Chime keeps a share of the interchange fee merchants pay every time a member swipes, which is why the company can charge no monthly fee, no minimum balance and no overdraft fee and still book an 89% gross margin. Payments revenue was about $430 million of the $670 million booked in the second quarter of 2026, with the remaining $240 million coming from platform-related products like MyPay and Instant Loans, and that second bucket is growing far faster (roughly 48% year over year against 17%).

Full CHYM guide

Dave Inc. is a US digital banking and financial-services company, a neobank, built around helping members who are underserved by traditional banks and often live paycheck to paycheck. Its best-known product, ExtraCash, provides short-term cash advances of up to $500 through bank partners to help members cover expenses before payday, and it pairs this with a Dave spending account and debit card. Rather than operating branches, Dave delivers everything through a mobile app and monetizes through service fees, subscription, and interchange. In February 2025 it moved ExtraCash to a mandatory percentage-based service fee (around 5% with a $5 minimum), replacing an older optional-tip model, a change aimed at strengthening the economics of each advance.

Full DAVE guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• CHYM drivers: Chime Prime lifting revenue per member; Platform products diversifying away from interchange.
• DAVE drivers: Profitability turnaround and operating leverage; ExtraCash engine and improving unit economics.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The largest risk is regulatory and sits outside the company's control: Chime's economics depend on partner banks staying exempt from the Durbin Amendment's debit interchange caps, and any move to extend those caps to sponsor-bank arrangements would compress the majority of revenue quickly. For DAVE, dave's core customers are financially stretched, lower-income consumers, so its ExtraCash advances are sensitive to the credit cycle: rising unemployment or financial stress among members could increase defaults and pressure the low loss rates the model depends on.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick CHYM if you believe its drivers more; DAVE if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the CHYM and DAVE guides.

CHYM. Chime screens as a growth fintech rather than a bank, and the multiple reflects that: at roughly 4.5 times forward revenue and about 47 times forward earnings, it prices well above any deposit-taking institution and closer to a software company with mid-20s growth. The trailing price-to-earnings ratio is not meaningful because trailing net income is still marginally negative, distorted by stock compensation tied to the 2025 IPO. Investors comparing Chime to SoFi or Dave usually anchor on revenue multiples and ARPAM trajectory instead, since the reported margin structure (89% gross margin, 73% transaction margin) does not translate into bank comparables.

DAVE. These figures are approximate, tied to the asOf date, and drawn from 2025 and early-2026 reporting; verify live numbers before acting. Dave's fast growth and recent profitability mean the stock can trade at a rich multiple, so a lot depends on sustaining growth and keeping loss rates low. Watch credit performance, the regulatory backdrop on fees, and whether guidance raises continue as closely as headline revenue.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): CHYM shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.46 billion, up ~26% year over year, q2 2026 revenue ~$670 million, up ~27%, with full-year 2026 guided to ~$2.73-2.75 billion, active members / arpam ~10.4 million (up ~20%), ~$260 average revenue per active member, adjusted ebitda ~$102 million in Q2 2026 (~15% margin), full year guided to ~$465-475 million; DAVE shows revenue (fy2025) About $554 million, up roughly 60% year over year, adjusted ebitda (fy2025) Around $227 million at roughly a 41% margin, a marked profitability improvement, recent quarter Q1 2026 revenue grew about 47% year over year to roughly $158 million, with net income roughly doubling, 2026 guidance Management raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to about $710 million to $720 million (roughly 28% to 30% growth).

CHYM and DAVE are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CHYM and DAVE exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.