416. Interviews: Varo Money - the first fintech to get FDIC approval

In today's episode, we bring you an interview with Wesley Wright, COO at Varo Money. Joining Sam Maule remotely, the pair kick things off with the story of how Varo Money came to be and how they aim to improve financial health and financial inclusion. Having now been approved for FDIC insurance, we hear about the process with regulators, why they decided to apply when other fintechs haven't, and what this means for the future of Varo Money and their ambitions. With our current environment, Sam and Wesley also touch on how to staying focused during a time of crisis, solving critical problems and the importance of listening to your customers at times of uncertainty. Tune in for industry insights, a wealth of experience and much much more! This podcast is brought to you by Mitek. Smart, automated and fast. Mitek helps you reduce fraud, create trust, and offer your customers the experience they value. Hundreds of AI-based analytics and face comparison algorithms work together to verify a user is truly the owner of their ID document in order to enable secure customer acquisition, fast money movement and prevent account takeover fraud. Document verification and facial biometrics work hand-in-hand to verify identities of users to provide them with a secure and convenient onboarding process. Love fintech? Then sign up for our newsletter, Fintech in Five. A snack-sized selection of the week's biggest stories, longer reads, soundbites and more. Just visit this link to sign up! 11fs.com/newsletter Fintech Insider by 11:FS is a podcast dedicated to all things fintech, banking, technology and financial services. Hosted by a rotation of 11:FS experts including David Brear, Simon Taylor, Jason Bates, Leda Glyptis and Sarah Kocianski and joined by a range of brilliant guests, we cover the latest global news, bring you interviews from industry experts or take a deep dive into subject matters such as APIs, AI or digital banking. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe and please leave a review Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/fintechinsiders where you can ask the hosts questions, alternatively email [email protected]! Special Guest: Wesley Wright. Sponsored By: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices