got an offer from chime this year for a senior backend engineer role (their equivalent of L5 roughly, 6+ YOE required). remote-friendly with quarterly team weeks in SF. sharing the numbers because when i was researching i found almost nothing recent.
my offer: base: $195k equity: $240k total RSUs over 4 years, standard monthly vest after 1-year cliff bonus: 10% target, paid annually, tied to company performance sign-on: $20k, repaid if you leave within 1 year
total comp at face value is around $275k/year if you include the equity at grant price (which, caveat: chime is still private, so liquidity is uncertain).
the private company equity caveat is real. this is the biggest delta vs a public company offer at the same base. $240k in RSUs at a public company like stripe (also private, bad example) or at a faang is liquid on vest. chime's equity vests but you can't sell unless there's a tender offer or liquidity event. they've had tender offers in the past but it's not guaranteed. i ran a comparison assuming 50% haircut on the equity value and the offer still penciled out for me vs my alternatives, but your math might be different.
negotiation: i came in with a competing offer (also a fintech, public company, slightly lower base but liquid equity). chime matched on base and added $25k to the sign-on. they didn't move much on the equity total but they did accelerate the vest schedule slightly (i can't share the details but it was a meaningful change). moral: competing offers work at chime, but they're more flexible on cash than on equity percentage.
other comp stuff: health benefits are solid, 401k with 4% match, $1200/year in wellness stipend, home office setup budget for remote employees. nothing exceptional, nothing missing.
if you're comparing to other fintechs: stripe, plaid, and brex all pay in a similar range for senior ICs. robinhood has been lower since layoffs. coinbase is all over the place depending on the team.