Online-only banking startup Varo Money is set to become the first chartered fintech bank after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. approved its applications for deposit insurance.
Varo Bank, which will be based in Draper, Utah, met all of the FDIC’s capital and other requirements, according to a Feb. 7 order.
The approval marks “a milestone in the quest to build a new generation of tech-enabled banks,” said Todd Baker, a senior business, law and public policy fellow at Columbia University’s Richman Center. Other mature fintech companies are likely to look to Varo for a roadmap to inform their own ...