Introduction

"Porting" is the process of moving phone numbers between providers. If you want to port an existing number to Chime, note that there is a four-step process that can take up to four weeks depending on the country the number is located in and the current service provider the number belongs to. The process includes coordination between Chime's upstream provider and your service provider to transfer the number to Chime. The four-week estimate could vary because of the need to interact with a variety of parties during this process.

*IMPORTANT: Chime only supports porting in U.S. and Canadian local numbers from other providers. Other countries are not currently supported.

Summary

• (1) Submit your Porting Request
• (2) Number is Submitted to Carrier Partner
• (3) Response from Carrier
• (4) Porting Date is Scheduled
• FAQs

(1) Submit your Porting Request

To request for Chime to port in a number you can contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) or send an email to our Support Team at <support@chimeinc.com>. In order to port your number, Chime needs you to provide the following information:

• The authorized user’s first name and last name or business name if the service is in your company’s name. Please note that your name should appear exactly as it does on your phone bill with this provider
• List all the numbers for which you authorize a change from your current phone service provider to Chime. For example:
• A scanned (or electronic) copy of the most recent phone bill, within the last 30 days, that includes the owner/authorized user's name, billing account number, billing/service address (this must be an actual physical location), and the billing phone number on file
• Desired port date and time. Chime cannot guarantee to port on specific dates but we will make an effort to accommodate based on the underlying carriers provisioning schedules

To ensure that your port request processes as smoothly as possible, you will need to make sure all the information provided matches the service information on file with the current carrier. If the information you provide to us does not match the current carrier's records, your port request will be rejected, which will delay the port request until the information you provide matches the information the carrier has on file. If you are not sure about this information, you can contact your current phone service provider.

(2) Number is Submitted to Carrier Partner

If everything in Step 1 was done correctly, your request will then be submitted to your soon-to-be former carrier as a port request. During this time, do not close your account with your carrier and keep your numbers active.

NOTE: Timeframe may be longer depending on the carrier partner.

(3) Response from Carrier

At this point, your request will either be approved or rejected:

Approved

If approved, then you will receive a porting date for when your number will be ported to Chime.

Rejected

This occurs for a variety of reasons, such as an incorrect PIN for an account, an address or zip code that doesn’t match the current carrier’s records, or a port request made by an unauthorized user on the account. Additionally, you will need to reach out to your carrier to find out what is needed in order to move forward. Depending on the needs of the carrier, this will add an additional amount of time to your porting request. Step 2 will then be repeated.

(4) Porting Date is Scheduled

The Chime Support Team or your CSM will reach out to you to keep you up-to-date on when your number will be transferred to Chime. Once you have verified that the number has been transferred to your Chime project, you can begin using your virtual number on Chime.

FAQs

Is there a possibility that the number that is being ported over will be inaccessible/down/offline during the transition process?

The overall process will take up to four weeks to complete meaning that we need to request our provider to get the number for us. Once they have accepted the ported number, we will change your virtual number to the ported one immediately. This transition should be a seamless one. 

Typically, when a number is moved, there is a scheduled porting date. During that date, there is potential for some downtime. 

Questions?

If you have any questions regarding this topic or any others, please reach out to our Support Team via email at <support@chimeinc.com>, by phone at 1 (855) 981-7557, or by a chat with us through your Chime CRM.