Varo Bank offering free tax prep

Digital fintech Varo Bank has unveiled a free in-app tax prep and filing service through a partnership with tax prep software platform Column Tax. 

The service allows all Varo account holders to prepare and file returns with Column Tax through their Varo Bank app. 

“By reducing the tax filing process to as little as 15 minutes and for free, we’re helping Varo Bank to maximize its customers’ returns with the satisfaction that comes with maximum refund and accuracy guarantees,” said Gavin Nachbar, Column Tax co-founder, in a statement.

The tax service from Varo, which is billed as the first nationally chartered consumer tech bank in the U.S., follows the launch of Varo To Anyone, a free, instant payment service linked to Varo accounts.

Embedded tax prep services are likely to grow among banks as fintechs start offering embedded tax services to all kinds of financial institutions.

The availability of open application programming interfaces and other technology make embedded tax services more feasible, industry observers have said. Banks could gain a competitive advantage and improve customer retention by offering taxes as part of a one-stop-shop for financial services.