Written by Jessica Merritt | Edited by Rebecca Stropoli | Updated on 05/12/2025
Varo is an online-only institution offering low fees, generous yields and tools that allow you to automate your savings and build credit. The bank provides a fee-free checking account and a savings account with tiered interest rates, among other products.
- Checking accounts: With Varo’s checking account, you won’t pay monthly maintenance, overdraft, late payment or foreign transaction fees. No minimum balance is required. You can access more than 55,000 ATMs worldwide through the Allpoint network and deposit cash for free at your local CVS or with Varo’s mobile check deposit feature. If no CVS is nearby, you can deposit cash during checkout at participating Green Dot retailers, such as Walgreens and Walmart; a service fee and deposit limits may apply. Varo offers early direct deposit for your paycheck and automatic cash back when you use your Varo debit card with more than 10,000 merchants.
- Savings accounts: Like the checking account, the high-yield savings account from Varo is fee-free. You can enable automatic savings tools, such as Save Your Change, which rounds up and transfers change from checking account transactions to your savings account. Save Your Pay, on the other hand, is a tool that can automatically tuck away a percentage of your paycheck each month into your savings account.
- Mobile app features: Varo’s mobile app allows you to set account notifications, such as real-time transaction alerts and balance updates. Monitor debit card usage and cash withdrawals or deposits. Varo to Anyone lets you send money to friends and family members using a phone number or email address, even if they don’t use Varo. The app also provides free credit score tracking.
Customer service:
Varo is an online-only bank with no physical branch locations. However, live chat support is available 24/7 through Varo’s mobile app. Live phone support is available at 877-377-8276 from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Eastern time daily but only for help with:- Disputing a transaction
- Logging into your account
- Adding your Varo card to your digital wallet
Pros and cons of Varo
PROS
• No monthly fees or minimum balance requirements on checking and savings accounts
• High-yield savings can earn a competitive rate
• Early direct deposit access for paychecks
CONS
• No physical branch locations
• Limited products
• Customer service phone calls are restricted to a few specific issues
I Would Recommend Varo To Anyone
I'm shock of the reviews I've been using varo for 7 months now I never had a problem with my card with direct deposit or nothing I'm sorry any of you had to go through this but since it never happen to me they must improve they help build credit I'll have to give varo five stars Great Card to use I will recommend anyone to use varo.
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.
Varo Bank Is Fantastic For The "Un-Rich"
Varo has been a huge relief from chexsystems denials, exorbitant overdraft fees, and especially the long wait of receiving gov. Benefits every month.
I opened a checking account online within 5 minutes, after being turned down by corporate banks due to history with chexsystems.
My card came in the mail and my direct deposits arrived 6-7 days earlier than the expected pay date. Wow!
This was a really helpful feature, especially when living "check to check", as the CEO Collin Walsh reported "are his primary demographic" of customers.
Luckily, I was not able to overdraft my account, so depending on a negative account balance, did not become a monthly problem.
As the months of banking history continued, I received an offer from Varo Bank to request an "advance", the amounts were dependent on my income, not the banks ability to profit. Better yet, the average fee for an advance was less than $5 per month, to borrow $50-$200.
For a person who struggles financially, having the ability to receive an advance, without fighting the cycle of poverty due to pay-day loans made me feel so much better about banking at Varo; that it IS... possible for a fiscally (and socially) responsible bank to pass the buck back to its customers, regardless of the amount spent or earned.
In addition, the average interest rate (gained) on a savings account is 5%. A 'Marcus Savings', by Goldman Sachs account has one of the highest-yield savings accounts commercially advertised, which caps at 3.4% annually. I had originally though was the best in the industry - until I realized Varo offers better...
The toughest part of having an account at Varo, is that when you've overspent, it is very difficult to find an online lender who will use Varo if you need an emergency/ same day/ payday loan.
Toward the end of a 1 year banking relationship as a customer of Varo, I feel grateful that I wasn't consumed by debt, that because of its' consumer-conscious financial practices, I still have my same account: still in good standing, and that I don't owe $200+ dollars to another bank, for not being rich enough to support their greed.
My debts have decreased, and I have learned to make due with the means that I have. Family and friends helped me get through this year as well, however Varo made it possible to bounce back onto my feet!
If I had the ability, I would invest in Varo Bank.
Companies like these are sorely needed in a capitalist world, where the majority of consumers fall prey to greed.
Thank you, Colin; for making a bank that "supports" it's customers, instead of destroying their future.
With gratitude,
YJ
Data as of Q1 2025
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 59190 |
| Year Established | 2020 |
| Employees | 375 |
| Primary Regulator | OCC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | -24.96% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | -135.77% |
| Annual Interest Income | $4.5MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $355.3MM$532.9MM |
| Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $80.3MM$60.2MM |
| Deposits | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $214.7MM$379.1MM |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $87.5MM$100.5MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $4.9MM$3.2MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $491K$8K |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $0$0 |