Varo Advance
- Best for: Varo customers with $800 a month in deposits who come up short before payday
- What Sets It Apart: Instant delivery and a 30-day repayment window for one flat fee
- Loan Amounts: $20 to $250 at first; up to $700 over time with $800 a month in deposits and on-time repayment
- Terms: Repaid automatically on a date you pick 15 to 30 days out; one advance at a time
- Features: Cash lands in your Varo account once approved, even on the day Varo approves the account; fees waived for Military Lending Act covered borrowers
- APR: 0%; Varo charges a flat fee instead of interest
- Cost: $8 per $100 if $800 or more reached your Varo account this month or last, $20 per $100 if not; no subscription, tip, late fee, or instant-delivery charge
- Eligibility: A Varo Bank Account that isn’t overdrawn and no past-due Varo payments; judged on account activity and consumer reports
- Pros: Nothing to pay in months you don’t borrow; up to 30 days to repay; no overdraft fee on a short repayment
- Cons: About 97% APR over 30 days, by our math; no savings for repaying early; no credit building; a repayment date you can’t move
Take a Varo Advance for a one-time gap before payday if your paycheck already lands at Varo. With $800 in deposits there this month or last, it costs $8 per $100 borrowed, with up to 30 days to repay. Without them, the fee is $20 per $100, so don’t open an account just for it.
Varo Advance works only inside a Varo Bank Account, where each advance lands as soon as it’s approved. Qualifying customers can borrow on the same day Varo approves their account.
Key Features
- Advances of $20 to $250 at first, growing over time to as much as $700 with $800 a month in deposits and on-time repayment
- A flat fee of $8 per $100 borrowed if $800 or more was deposited to your Varo account this month or last, or $20 per $100 if not
- No interest, subscription, tip, late fee, or charge for instant delivery
- One automatic repayment on a date you choose 15 to 30 days out, and one advance at a time
- Fees waived for military members and families covered by the Military Lending Act when they open the account
Pros
- Nothing to pay in months you don’t borrow, unlike a subscription app
- Up to 30 days to repay, which covers two paydays for anyone paid every two weeks
- No overdraft fee if your account is short on the repayment date
Cons
- $8 per $100 for 30 days works out to an annual percentage rate (APR) of about 97%, by our math
- No savings for repaying early, since the fee is set when you borrow
- On-time repayment builds no credit, unlike Varo’s Believe card
- A repayment date you can’t move, with a missed payment taken from later deposits and possibly reported to the credit bureaus
For a Varo customer paid $800 a month there, a $200 advance for up to 30 days costs $16, a fair price for a one-time need, though one every month adds up to $192 a year. Anyone paid into another bank should compare cash advance apps that work with that bank, some of which charge nothing for a transfer that takes a few business days.
Learn more about Varo Advance or see how it compares to the best cash advance apps.
Subscribe and we'll send you 101 Essential Money Tips to get you started.
The 101 money moves that matter most, from the foundations to protecting what you’ve built.
Advertiser Disclosure: Many or all of the offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us, and some companies pay for sponsored content. That compensation may influence which products we cover and where and how they appear on a page, including the order in which they appear. We do not include every company or offer available in the marketplace.
