Varo: The First Nationally Chartered Fintech Bank
Colin Walsh, founder and CEO of Varo Money, Inc., discusses why Varo pursued a national charter, the benefits of being a mobile-only bank, and how to gain scale in an industry that already has too many players.
Banking Transformed with Jim Marous · Evergreen Podcasts
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (podtrac.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
Until recently, fintech firms have usually partnered with traditional banks to provide banking services as opposed to going through the lengthy and costly process of getting their own bank charters.
Breaking away from that model, Varo Money became the first challenger bank to receive a national bank charter. The national charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) was the first ever granted to a fintech company, allowing Varo to offer credit cards, make loans and generate insured deposits nationally.
We caught up with Colin Walsh, founder and CEO of Varo Money, Inc., Varo, which began offering mobile-only banking services in 2015. Walsh discusses why Varo pursued a national charter, the benefits of being a mobile-only bank, and how to gain scale in an industry that already has too many players.