Varo Money has ramped up their marketing campaign to position themselves as a better option than the banks; the fintech company is not going directly at the banks in their ads as some other fintechs have done, they are instead highlighting their own offering; their ads can be seen on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest; they are also focusing on their customers overall financial lives, empowering their users to understand what they make and how they can spend wisely. Source.
After three long years and more than 5,000 pages of paperwork Varo Money has officially secured a national bank charter;...
Low wage workers have always had a difficult set of expensive options when they try to cash their paychecks; bank accounts are costly because they cannot maintain certain balances and check cashing shops are not exactly cheap; WiseWage, a North Carolina based non profit is looking to offer another option; the company has struck partnerships with Regions Bank and Varo Money, among others, to offer a lower cost direct deposit; the prepaid cards have set fees which can be waived if enough is loaded each month; the program is meant as a test to see if they can enlist those who have dropped out of the financial system because of a lack of options. Source.
Mobile-focused digital banking provider Varo Money has applied for a banking charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), as chartering options continue to be debated for US fintech companies. Varo Money is the second fintech company to apply for bank chartering following SoFi who currently has an application pending with the FDIC.
Varo Money has applied for two approvals, one a national banking charter with the OCC and the second an application for deposit insurance with the FDIC. According to the Wall Street Journal, approvals would allow the company to take deposits, pay interest, make loans in any state and issue cards, all independently.
Details of the firm's applications have not been released publicly and it's likely to be a slow process for approval with the OCC who is currently being sued over offering a national banking charter for fintechs. The FDIC process also includes an open comment period which has been challenging for SoFi. Varo Money does have a significant investment from Warburg Pincus which also includes support from former US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who is the firm's president.
Yesterday LendIt Fintech recently hosted a webinar called “How Increased Engagement Will Impact Fintechs and Digital Banks”; panelists included Colin...
Varo Money CEO Colin Walsh : We Designed Varo to be Your Primary Bank Account Square acquires European peer-to-peer payment...
Chime CEO Chris Britt said the digital bank has surpassed 4 million customers, up from 1 million at this time...
Now more than ever it is important for fintechs to be on the top of their game when it comes...
American Banker takes a look at some of the better know digital banks and how they are trying to build...
Digital bank Varo Money has made the decision to shut down their consumer lending division; Business Insider reports “With the...