Varo

Official Website: https://www.varomoney.com/
Platforms: Web | Android | iOS
Account Types: Personal Checking
Partner Bank: The Bancorp (via Galileo)
Minimum Account Balance: $0.00
Lowest Monthly Fee: $0.00
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA

Features: No-fee online checking and savings accounts.

Varo is a US neobank founded in 2015, serving millenials with no-fee checking and savings accounts, that has since been approved to become a chartered bank themselves.

Varo is a San Francisco based US neobank founded in 2015 that has since been approved to operate directly as a federally chartered bank in the future.

Like many consumer-facing fintech companies, Varo started off as a technology product partnered with a chartered bank who holds the customer funds. In mid 2020, Varo was approved by the FDIC and is on their way to becoming a chartered bank themselves.

However, as a relatively early entry into the US challenger bank space, we still consider Varo a neobank as they continue to offer the main benefits for consumers: open accounts entirely online, manage your money through their apps, pay no monthly maintenance fees, and never visit a physical branch.

Varo also partners with merchants to offer special discounts to customers and offers early paycheck deposits when you get your paycheck direct deposited to a free Varo checking account.

Going forward, Varo may be an example of a new breed: established app driven neobanks who have since grown to operate as their own FDIC insured bank.