Varo Bank Checking Accounts

I had one of the worst banking experiences I've ever encountered with Varo Bank.

Opening the checking and savings accounts was easy enough, and I was able to set up direct deposit from my employer without any issues. But the moment I tried to do something basic—transfer money between Varo and an external bank—the entire system broke down.

I successfully connected my outside bank account to Varo and received confirmations saying the accounts were linked. However, every time I attempted to transfer money, nothing happened. No error message, no explanation, no pending transfer—just nothing.

What followed was an extremely frustrating attempt to get help. I contacted Varo's chat support and spoke with four separate agents. Most of the interaction appears to be AI-driven, and none of the agents were able to identify the problem or provide a solution. Each conversation felt like starting over with someone who had no context and no real ability to fix anything.

Finally, one agent told me to call Varo directly. When I did, I was met with a confusing phone menu that had six or seven options—none of which actually matched my issue. I ended up selecting the disputes option just to reach a human being.

When I finally got someone on the phone, the representative simply kept repeating that everything on their end looked fine, despite the fact that transfers were clearly not working. No troubleshooting, no escalation, no accountability.

This was easily the worst customer service experience I've ever had with a bank.

If everything works perfectly, maybe Varo is fine. But the moment something goes wrong, you're essentially on your own. There appears to be no meaningful support structure to resolve real problems.

I cannot recommend Varo Bank to anyone who values reliable service or the ability to get help when something breaks.

They have terrible customer service; they don't have a phone line that you can call, nor do they offer email support. It's a terrible online bank—the worst of the worst.

I highly recommend Varo Bank; I have never had any issues with any service. I even more recently thought my account had been compromised, and immediately without further question the customer service representative secured my account, canceled my card, and issued me a new one, letting me know all the while what was happening and when I should expect my new card. I thought it was a situation where I needed to make a dispute and came to find out through the patience, understanding, and helpfulness of the three separate representatives that I spoke with, that it was I who somehow managed to turn off the "Safe Pay" feature, causing a balance owed to show up on my account statement. I had the money in the account too, Varo just could not access it until I turned back on that feature. The moment I turned back on that feature, the balance owed was remedied. It was a very good and helpful lesson learned. Thank you, Varo Bank, for having such great representatives. They definitely went above and beyond to help me, and I am grateful.

I've been with Varo for a long time. I've not been eligible for the Varo line of credit, but I have gotten the 250-dollar advance three times. It would be nice if the limit increased to help me with my bills. Why so many times for the same amount? Before that, the limit was 200 dollars, which I received three times as well. Please increase my limit, Varo.

Horrible company. I have been with them since 2022. They say I need $800 in direct deposits every month to borrow $20. Not only that, I received over $1000 and they still only gave me $20. I pay it back every week early. This week I paid it back and after I paid it back, they take away my eligibility. I am now stuck with no gas money to get to work. Do not use them. Customer service is horrible, and they will not help you and dare you to go to the FDIC.

A group of individuals locked me out of my account after I had called to give them my new number and logged in on my new device. The next day, I received an email stating my account was locked due to a suspicious device. After waiting 5 days to receive an email with instructions to regain access and calling them hundreds of times, I closed my account. I was then told it would be 21 days before I received my money, even though I have no pending charges and haven't used my card in over a month. Total nonsense. They just want to earn interest on my money. I hope their data breach costs them so much they have to close permanently.

I locked my card because there were some charges attempted that I did not authorize.

I was then refunded for an order that I had made, but because the card was "locked," the refund did not go through. However, on the merchant's side, the refund transaction went through. So there is no way to retry the refund, but Varo Bank is refusing to try to refund me as well.

Usually, when a card is locked, money can still be refunded because even if the card is disabled, it should get routed to the correct account.

Also, when filing a dispute for this, even though there is clear evidence that the merchant attempted to refund me, they refuse to even provide a provisional credit and are telling me the dispute may take up to 90 days.

I will be canceling this bank account because this is not a good experience.

I have been a Varo customer for many years. Recently they have moved away from live phone support and shifted their Customer Service Department overseas. They now only offer a 24/7 chatbot, which is basically useless. The only way you can talk to a live person is if you are disputing a charge, and I'm not sure that is guaranteed. This is a drastic departure from their previous customer service policies and procedures, and it certainly does not enhance the experience for their customers. The only reason a company chooses to shut off live phone support and replace it with a chatbot is to save money.

Is Varo Bank failing? I would not wait to find out. Get out now!

Suspended my account for no reason. Kept my money. Can't reach anyone. A week before Christmas. They are frauds and I pray this operation shuts down.

No way to replace lost/stolen card. App says to use chat, chat says to contact them, but without a lost or stole card choice. Chat says contact them but when you call their is no option. The chat is AI only and stupid. Tells you to call but with no option to replace lost/stolen . It's a loop.