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Regular Cuts On APY
Totally untrustworthy if you want to use this bank looking at the Savings APY. They keep cutting APY on regular basis, and you'll never keep your APY you signed up for longer than some weeks. I joined with 0.40%, 1 month later they cut to 0.20%. Their high yield was 2.80% topped $10k, it's been raised 0.2% to 3% but the limit cut in half to $5k. So, in real life, you end up with less money. I should have believed in many, many, many customer reviews everywhere stating the same situation.
Really Ridiculous System
So I left Bank of America and did a ton of research and decided on Varo. Seemed great and overall I liked it in the beginning but then I noticed that there were some pretty stupid limitations or convoluted ways of doing things. For example to deposit a check, you need to add a note that its for Varo Bank only on the check. The really frustrating part was that the mobile deposit had a really low limit. As a freelancer, I get checks of varying sizes and having a limit on single deposits wasnt going to work. When I reached out to customer service about this issue, I didnt get a response for almost 2 weeks. The process of removing that limit was equally as ridiculous and frustrating. People shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get their money.
The Worst Bank
I have been with Varo for quite some time now. Never any issues with them. Had to call them a couple times to raise my deposit limit so that I could deposit income tax refunds. Never an issues. So yesterday for some reason I woke up after being sick all night. I recently moved from an apartment full of black mold and have been battling pneumonia for 7 months. I also am a cardiac patient. All that being said I check my email and there are two emails from varo stating they have close my accounts. ?? No reasons why. Like I said never any issues. I am two hours from home. Just had testing for heart surgery and I am stranded now with no way to get home. No way to get my heart medication of which I will run out of on Friday. They have left me stranded with my dogs two hours from home. No money for gas and no money for my medications. I work for an attorney who I have contacted and will be handing this matter. And I have contacted the FDIC and the Attorney Generals office. They can deal with the feds. And the customer service is a useless as tits on a board hog. No help. It is my hopes for Varo that they go bankrupt. I would give zero stars but not an option. All I get is security put my account t in review and decided to close it. No dispute ever. Neber asked for refunds on any purchases, no overdrafts. Absolutely perfect account since it has bern opened. Varo is the worst. Not recommended. Do not use.
So Convoluted, Gimmicky, And Low Interest Rate
I had trouble getting the account set up and maybe that should have been a warning. I didn't get the micro deposits the first time and had to request again. Finally got them and got the account opened. At that time, the interest rate was 0.81%, which was fairly high for a savings account with a low minimum balance. I put in the $500 minimum. Almost immediately, the rate dropped to 0.4%, then not too long after, it went to 0.2%. When I decided to transfer the money out to my external checking account, there seemed to be no way to do it. Eventually, I figured out that I had transfer the money to the Varo Bank account, and transfer it from there to my checking account. The first transfer was immediate. We shall see how the second takes. They are saying 1-2 days. I have never had a savings account where direct transfers to an external account couldn't be done. Also, the rate drop was ridiculous, about a 75% drop in a very short time. There were also a lot of emails with gimmicky sounding "great offers" and lots of changing of terms that I was receiving while I had the account. I don't want gimmicks, just a savings account with a decent rate that's easy to manage. This was not it.
Data as of Q1 2021
Health Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 59190 |
| Year Established | 2020 |
| Employees | 595 |
| Primary Regulator | OCC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | -39.89% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | -207.9% |
| Annual Interest Income | $173.00K |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2021 | $403.5MM |
| Loans | Q1 2021 | $3.4MM |
| Deposits | Q1 2021 | $281.6MM |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2021 | $94.4MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2021 | $2.5MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2021 | $24.00K |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2021 | $0 |