From biology to analytics, Jaclyn’s journey is rooted in curiosity, impact, and a drive to make data meaningful.
Jaclyn Dinh didn’t set out to become a data analytics leader. In fact, she started out studying ecology, evolution, and animal behavior as a biology major at the University of Texas at Austin. Her college days were filled with collecting environmental data, observing animal behavior, and interviewing professors about their career paths. “Through those interviews, I realized that being a researcher wasn’t for me—especially because I don’t like camping,” she jokes. “But a lot of the tools and analyses I was doing led me to take some computer science classes, where I discovered Python and then big data, and I was onto something.”
After graduating, Jaclyn stayed on campus as an academic advisor, helping students choose their classes while continuing to take courses on the side. She began noticing patterns in the data she was collecting—and one in particular stood out. “I learned that transfer students from two-year colleges weren’t seeing the same success rates as students coming straight from high school,” she says. “There were tons of programs for first-year freshmen, but not nearly enough for transfer students.”
So she built one. Jaclyn launched a support program specifically for transfer students, testing her ideas and measuring outcomes like a real-world A/B experiment. “We saw that they had much better results with the program,” she says. “It was my first time using data to drive meaningful impact—and that program still exists today.” That early win inspired her to pursue a Master’s Degree in Analytics and set her on the path to where she is today.
From retail insights to member impact
With her graduate degree in hand, Jaclyn built her analytics career at major retailers, where she worked on everything from competitive marketplaces to structural program changes that shifted customer behavior. “Looking at data is really just a reflection of what I was doing in college,” she says. “Except now, it’s human behavior instead of animal behavior.”
Over time, she discovered her true passion: using behavioral and consumer data to improve how people engage with products. That clarity ultimately led her to Chime. “I wanted to take what I’d learned in retail and tech and apply it at a mission-driven company,” she says.
When she joined, the analytics team was small and scrappy. “There were still so many member needs we hadn’t yet met,” she says. “What I love about analytics is that you can uncover a cool nugget of insight, make an improvement, and then go back to the data again. It’s never done—there’s always something new to explore.”
Today, she’s part of a team she describes as “a group of people who care deeply about our members and delivering real solutions to help achieve our mission.”
The role of data at Chime®
At Chime, Jaclyn says, everyone is hungry for insights. “People want meaningful, actionable data to make decisions,” she explains. “They value the analytics perspective, and that makes this a great place to be if you want to drive change.”
When she first joined, accessing and aligning data could be a challenge. “Pulling data took so much time that only about 20% of our work could focus on insights,” she recalls.
Today, that’s changed dramatically. “Data has evolved. We have a centralized member table, self-serve tools are much faster, and we can spend more time uncovering valuable insights,” she says. “And I love using Datanaut, our internal data chatbot—shoutout to the Data Engineering team for building it. It makes my life so much easier.”
Inside Jaclyn’s work and team
Jaclyn manages analytics teams focused on:
Spending – including Chime Card, deals and offers, and our financial platform
Credit Progress – credit scores, score growth, reporting, and insights
Trust & Safety – reducing member friction while keeping Chime and our members safe, and improve account security via Security Centers
She helps guide key initiatives like the evolution of Chime Deals® and the rollout of single account balance features, ensuring changes are data-backed and member-friendly.
Her day-to-day includes monitoring core metrics, unblocking her team, aligning on priorities, and meeting regularly with stakeholders to stay close to the work. She also prepares executive-level performance readouts and advocates for the insights her team surfaces—like a recent finding from one analyst around members using Chime to pay off buy now, pay later (BNPL) services. “We thought, why aren’t they just using the Credit Builder card directly?” Jaclyn says. “We brought it to Product and kicked off new work to explore the opportunity.”
“As a manager, I need to understand the data and the insights so I can advocate for the work—and make sure we’re prioritizing the right things,” she says.
Ownership and impact
Jaclyn encourages her team to go deep and have a point of view. “You need to be curious and take ownership—to get under the hood, ask the right questions, and challenge different perspectives,” she says. “Our job as analysts is to guide decision-making. You can’t do that without a perspective.”
She also stays close to the member experience—and encourages her team to do the same. Jaclyn signs up for every product, uses every card, and caps her balance so she can experience Chime just like any other member. “I’ve had transactions declined. SpotMe® has covered me. I’ve submitted tickets,” she says. “It’s important to understand the value we bring—and make sure the data reflects that.”
Interested in joining Jaclyn’s team? Check out our open positions on the Chime Careers page.