Varo Bank Checking Account

While Varo won't charge you any fees for depositing cash using Green Dot Reload @ the Register™, there's a retail service fee of up to $5.95 per deposit.

Varo's No-Fee Overdraft is a feature that lets you overdraw your Varo Bank Account up to $50 on debit card purchases, without any fees or interest charges. You can repay the overdraft within 30 days following the day your balance first went negative. Actually, Varo will withdraw the amount automatically from your account when you make your next deposit.

In addition to not having to pay any extra fees, you also don't need to have another linked bank account, to serve as a backup in case you go overdraft.

To be able to use No-Fee Overdraft, you'll need to make at least 5 Viro Visa Debit card purchases each month, and receive $1,000 or more in direct deposits each month, whether it be your payroll or government benefits.

Varo's Bank account is basically a checking account that doesn't pay interest, but you do have the option to open a high-yield savings account, and earn up to 2.80% APY!

You can set up Varo's savings account once you've opened a Varo Bank account. The Varo Savings account requires no minimum deposit to open, and has no fees whatsoever.

To earn 2.80% APY with Varo's high-yield savings account, you'll need to:

1. make 5+ qualifying purchases using your Varo Visa® Debit Card purchases in each calendar month,
2. receive $1,000+ in total direct deposits,
3. keep a daily Savings Account balance up to $10,000.

Do note that direct deposits cannot be made through any third-party service provider, including, but not limited to digital wallets, peer-to-peer money transfer apps and services, such as PayPal, Venmo, Square, and ApplePay Cash, Zelle, Facebook, etc. Also, you cannot transfer funds from your account held at another institution or make Varo-toVaro transfers, mobile check deposits or cash deposits through third-party money transfer services, such as the Green Dot® Network.

Only direct deposits,you receive from your employer or government agency, such as payroll, pension or government benefits, are considered qualifying. Plus, transfers made to your Varo Visa Debit Card via Visa Direct from Uber, Lyft, DailyPay, Doordash, and Postmates are also considered qualifying direct deposit.

If you don't meet the 3 requirements listed above, you'll earn 0.81% APY on your Varo Savings Account balance.

As per Varo's T&C, qualifying debit card purchases include any purchase of goods and services made using your Varo Visa Debit card, but not the following:

1. Transactions at ATMs, including but not limited to cash withdrawals and balance inquiries;
2. Over the Counter (“OTC”) cash withdrawals;
3. Transfers from the Varo Visa® Debit Card via external Peer to Peer (P2P) transfer services, including, but not limited to, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and ApplePay Cash or similar services
4. ACH Debits from merchants, utility service providers and other financial institutions;
5. ACH Transfers from your Varo Bank Account to another bank account you own made using the Mobile App;
6. Payments made using the bill payment (“Mail a check”) feature in the Mobile App; or
7. Transfers or withdrawals from the Varo Savings Account.
8. Varo-to-Varo Transfers sent from the Varo Bank Account.

With Varo's automatic savings tools, funds will be transferred from your Varo Bank account to your Varo Savings account automatically, so you don't think to think about putting money aside for this purpose exclusively each month.

There are two ways you can set up automatic savings:

1. Save Your Pay: takes a percentage of your Varo Bank Account direct deposits, and transfers it to your Savings Account, with your choosing the percentage,
2. Save Your Change: rounds up every transaction to the nearest dollar, and transfers it to from your Varo Bank Account to your Savings Account.

If you need cash, there are several ways you can get it from your Varo Bank account:

1. You can use one of over 55,000 AllPoint ATMs to withdraw money free of charge, or an out-of-network ATM, in which case there's a $2.50 fee per withdrawal. You can withdraw up to $750 per day.
2. You can use your Varo Visa Debit Card to get up to $500 at a point of sale at a merchant. 
3. You can get cash through an “Over the Counter” cash withdrawal, available at most major banks and credit unions. You'll need your Varo Visa debit card, and a valid government-issued ID, and request to withdraw cash from the teller. Make sure your local branch offers the service. You can get up to $1,000 per day using this method.

Either way, the total combined daily amount you can withdraw is $1,000.

Once again, Varo gives you a few options, so you can deposit money into your Varo Bank Account however you want:

• by setting up direct deposit (paychecks, government benefits, and other payments, including Uber's instant payments, Lyft's express payments, Airbnb income, insurance payments, and Stripe transfers),
• by transferring money from an external bank account, whether through the Varo app or from your other bank's online banking,
• by transferring money from digital wallets, such as Cash App, Venmo, and PayPal; note that ACH transfers from digital wallets are, while slower, 100% free, unlike instant transfers, where your provider might charge you a fee,
• by making mobile check deposits using the Varo app,
• by making cash deposits thousands of Green Dot® locations nationwide, including Walmart, CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, 7-11, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Albertsons, Safeway, Kmart, and Kroger (a fee of up to $4.95 applies); you can also purchase a Green Dot MoneyPak® at most of those same stores (MoneyPak costs $5.95).

Yes, all your deposits (including funds in your Varo Savings account) are FDIC-insured on up to $250,000 through Varo's sponsor bank, The Bancorp Bank. It is The Bancorp Bank, member FDIC, that holds your Varo deposits, so you can bank knowing your funds are safe.