Varo Money
“Can a chartered consumer neobank make small-dollar credit and mainstream banking work for underbanked Americans without relying on a sponsor bank?”
Founded 2015 as a mobile-first consumer neobank, Varo initially ran on partner-bank rails (with Galileo as processor). In July 2020, it became the first US consumer fintech to secure a national bank charter from the OCC, transforming Varo Money into a holding company and creating Varo Bank, N.A. as a fully regulated bank. This lets Varo issue accounts, cards, and credit directly on its own charter rather than renting a sponsor bank. Since 2021, the company has pushed into credit-building (Varo Believe), small-dollar credit (Varo Advance), and personal lines of credit (VLOC, 2024) while running its card program on Marqeta.