“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.
Varo Money discloses Varo Bank, N.A. (in-house) as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Varo Money does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Varo Bank, N.A. (in-house).
Varo Money processes payments through Varo Bank, N.A. (in-house).
Varo Money's cards are issued through Marqeta.
Varo Money's lending and capital products are provided by Varo Bank, N.A. (in-house).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 4 layers in Varo Money's stack: Payments / PSP (Varo Bank, N.A. (in-house)); Banking / BaaS (Varo Bank, N.A. (in-house)); Card issuing (Marqeta); Lending (Varo Bank, N.A. (in-house), Varo Line of Credit (VLOC, $600-$2,000), Varo Advance and Varo Believe (secured credit-building card)).
Varo Money is founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, CA, United States.
Varo Money has raised $992M+ in total (latest round: Series G, $124M; valuation: $2.5B (Series E, 2021)).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Varo Money and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.