The valuation in the Series G round was $10 billion higher than what Chime achieved in October 2020.

Digital neo bank Chime joined in the pyrotechnic valuations surrounding fintechs, garnering a massive $25 billion valuation in a $750 million Series G round that saw investment from SoftBank, Sequoia Capital Global Equities, General Atlantic, Tiger Global, and Dragoneer Investment Group. The current valuation is up from $1.5 billion in early 2019, and from $14.5 billion in October 2020, demonstrating the rocketing valuations in the fintech sector. (CNBC)

Chime is now the third most valuable privately-held fintech in the world, behind Stripe and Klarna, the latter being valued at $45.6 billion in June.

Meanwhile, Square (NYSE: SQ) thought it fit to pay $29 billion for BNPL player Afterpay (ASX: APT) as it sought to integrate the latter’s business with its own apps.

Rapid growth

Fintechs, especially those offering digital banking, received a huge boost to their business from the pandemic, which pushed consumers away from physical, branch-based banking to online transactions.

In fact, Chime last year grew both volume and revenue 3X, and is adding hundreds of thousands of accounts a month, CEO Chris Britt told CNBC last September.

Chime also achieved profitability on an EBITDA basis during the pandemic.

In a measure of the galloping growth in the fintech sector, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) last week reported a 12-fold increase in revenue from a year earlier to $2.23 billion.

Online lender Upstart Holdings (NASDAQ: UPST), meanwhile, said revenue climbed 11-fold from a year ago to $194 million.

IPO on the horizon

The Wall Street Journal said Chime’s Friday announcement of three new independent board members showed the company was laying the groundwork for a public listing.

The Journal also said the latest funding primed Chime for a potential IPO in the first half of 2022, according to a source.

Related Story:  Mobile-Based Banker Chime Raises $485 Million At $14.5B Valuation