.svg)
.svg)
How Varo Bank drives primacy with Pinwheel Switch Kit
February 2, 2026
In January 2026, Varo Bank became the first customer to launch Pinwheel's Switch Kit to power their onboarding experience. The launch marked a major milestone in Pinwheel’s roadmap to deliver the industry’s most comprehensive account activation solution—one that combines direct deposit switching with bill payment switching at account opening.
Pinwheel first announced the development of its bill solution suite in late 2024, with the goal of complementing its industry-leading deposit switch solution with powerful bill switching and payment management tools. Throughout 2025, Pinwheel beta tested a range of bill identification, switching, and management capabilities to arrive at an optimized solution designed to help banks acquire customers and accelerate conversion to primary accounts.
Varo Bank, rated Inc.'s "Best in Business Financial Services" for 5 consecutive years, has been powering its account activation with Pinwheel Deposit Switch since 2021. Varo Bank served as a design partner for Pinwheel's product roadmap, contributing to multiple innovations including the invention of PreMatch and the development of Switch Kit. In late 2025, the bank piloted Pinwheel’s new Bill Switch technology with a test customer segment. By simplifying bill consolidation and payment into a single experience, Varo continues to raise the bar on comprehensive, low-cost financial solutions for everyday Americans. Varo has been recognized as one of the World’s Top Fintech Companies by CNBC in 2023, 2024, and 2025 for its high-yield savings, no-fee structure, and innovative credit-building products.'“We have been fortunate to partner with Pinwheel on continuously delivering the most cutting edge digital banking experience for Varo’s customers,” said Claudia Richter, GM of Savings and Deposits for Varo Bank. “Having a delightfully simple account activation journey has been core to our success, with deposit and bill switching key drivers of profitability. ”
“We have been fortunate to partner with Pinwheel on continuously delivering the most cutting edge digital banking experience for Varo’s customers,” said Claudia Richter, GM of Savings and Deposits for Varo Bank. “Having a delightfully simple account activation journey has been core to our success, with deposit and bill switching key drivers of profitability. ”
While switching direct deposit is a critical step toward account activation, recurring bill payments remain one of the biggest barriers preventing customers from fully transitioning to a new bank. Risks associated with transitioning direct deposits and missing critical payments due to funds availability are the top concerns consumers state that prevent them from switching to a better bank.
For Varo, simplifying bill consolidation and payment into a seamless, intuitive account activation experience was essential to reducing this friction. Without a unified solution that combines direct deposit and bill switching at account opening, customers were more likely to maintain legacy banking relationships, delaying full activation and limiting account primacy.
Pinwheel’s groundbreaking Switch Kit was designed to comprehensively address these challenges by combining the industry’s top-performing Direct Deposit Switch solution with a powerfully simple Bill Switching experience.
At account opening, Switch Kit enables consumers to switch direct deposit and recurring bill payments in a single, unified flow. Similar to how Pinwheel Deposit Switch proactively identifies active payroll records and surfaces them for two-click switching, Pinwheel Bill Switch connects consumers’ external payment accounts and instantly identifies major recurring bills eligible to switch.
Consumers can review upcoming due dates, select when each bill’s payment source should change, and complete the entire process without leaving their new bank’s app. Together, these capabilities provide customers with the transparency and control needed to confidently transition their primary banking relationship without fear of payment disruption.
On average,bill switchers transitioned two recurring bills to be paid from their Varo account. Varo also found that customers who used Pinwheel to switch both direct deposit and recurring bills demonstrated higher account balances, higher-value transactions, and deeper engagement over time.
By launching Pinwheel Switch Kit, Varo enables customers to overcome the biggest barriers associated with switching banks and become primary account holders from day one. By addressing both direct deposits and recurring bill payments during onboarding, Switch Kit helps financial institutions unseat legacy banking relationships and accelerate account primacy.
Pinwheel Switch Kit is now available for rapid deployment across most major banking technology platforms.Ready to help your financial institution see similar results? Contact us.
In January 2026, Varo Bank became the first customer to launch Pinwheel's Switch Kit to power their onboarding experience. The launch marked a major milestone in Pinwheel’s roadmap to deliver the industry’s most comprehensive account activation solution—one that combines direct deposit switching with bill payment switching at account opening.
Pinwheel first announced the development of its bill solution suite in late 2024, with the goal of complementing its industry-leading deposit switch solution with powerful bill switching and payment management tools. Throughout 2025, Pinwheel beta tested a range of bill identification, switching, and management capabilities to arrive at an optimized solution designed to help banks acquire customers and accelerate conversion to primary accounts.
Varo Bank, rated Inc.'s "Best in Business Financial Services" for 5 consecutive years, has been powering its account activation with Pinwheel Deposit Switch since 2021. Varo Bank served as a design partner for Pinwheel's product roadmap, contributing to multiple innovations including the invention of PreMatch and the development of Switch Kit. In late 2025, the bank piloted Pinwheel’s new Bill Switch technology with a test customer segment. By simplifying bill consolidation and payment into a single experience, Varo continues to raise the bar on comprehensive, low-cost financial solutions for everyday Americans. Varo has been recognized as one of the World’s Top Fintech Companies by CNBC in 2023, 2024, and 2025 for its high-yield savings, no-fee structure, and innovative credit-building products.'“We have been fortunate to partner with Pinwheel on continuously delivering the most cutting edge digital banking experience for Varo’s customers,” said Claudia Richter, GM of Savings and Deposits for Varo Bank. “Having a delightfully simple account activation journey has been core to our success, with deposit and bill switching key drivers of profitability. ”
“We have been fortunate to partner with Pinwheel on continuously delivering the most cutting edge digital banking experience for Varo’s customers,” said Claudia Richter, GM of Savings and Deposits for Varo Bank. “Having a delightfully simple account activation journey has been core to our success, with deposit and bill switching key drivers of profitability. ”
While switching direct deposit is a critical step toward account activation, recurring bill payments remain one of the biggest barriers preventing customers from fully transitioning to a new bank. Risks associated with transitioning direct deposits and missing critical payments due to funds availability are the top concerns consumers state that prevent them from switching to a better bank.
For Varo, simplifying bill consolidation and payment into a seamless, intuitive account activation experience was essential to reducing this friction. Without a unified solution that combines direct deposit and bill switching at account opening, customers were more likely to maintain legacy banking relationships, delaying full activation and limiting account primacy.
Pinwheel’s groundbreaking Switch Kit was designed to comprehensively address these challenges by combining the industry’s top-performing Direct Deposit Switch solution with a powerfully simple Bill Switching experience.
At account opening, Switch Kit enables consumers to switch direct deposit and recurring bill payments in a single, unified flow. Similar to how Pinwheel Deposit Switch proactively identifies active payroll records and surfaces them for two-click switching, Pinwheel Bill Switch connects consumers’ external payment accounts and instantly identifies major recurring bills eligible to switch.
Consumers can review upcoming due dates, select when each bill’s payment source should change, and complete the entire process without leaving their new bank’s app. Together, these capabilities provide customers with the transparency and control needed to confidently transition their primary banking relationship without fear of payment disruption.
During a three-month pilot of Pinwheel Bill Switch, Varo observed strong engagement and clear indicators of accelerated account activation:
On average,bill switchers transitioned two recurring bills to be paid from their Varo account. Varo also found that customers who used Pinwheel to switch both direct deposit and recurring bills demonstrated higher account balances, higher-value transactions, and deeper engagement over time.
By launching Pinwheel Switch Kit, Varo enables customers to overcome the biggest barriers associated with switching banks and become primary account holders from day one. By addressing both direct deposits and recurring bill payments during onboarding, Switch Kit helps financial institutions unseat legacy banking relationships and accelerate account primacy.
Pinwheel Switch Kit is now available for rapid deployment across most major banking technology platforms.Ready to help your financial institution see similar results? Contact us.
Pinwheel’s groundbreaking Switch Kit was designed to comprehensively address these challenges by combining the industry’s top-performing Direct Deposit Switch solution with a powerfully simple Bill Switching experience.
With Pinwheel, Perpay embedded secure, seamless payroll connectivity into its payment setup flow. Now, customers can easily connect their payroll account and authorize paycheck-linked repayment in just a few clicks—no more manual setup or wait time.
Pinwheel’s product suite delivers the modern infrastructure that turns Pay by Paycheck from a promising idea into a proven growth strategy. By connecting directly to payroll systems, we help lenders lower default risk and reduce cost-to-serve - without sacrificing customer experience.
As consumer credit delinquencies climb and net interest margins compress, lenders face a dual challenge: driving revenue growth while protecting portfolio performance and profitability. Against this backdrop, Pay by Paycheck has emerged as a timely, powerful solution to control risk while delivering real benefits to borrowers.
In April 2025, as part of its ongoing commitment to reducing friction for customers, Varo piloted Pinwheel’s most advanced Deposit Switch experience: PreMatch. This cutting-edge solution leverages information already provided during account opening to proactively identify users’ payroll accounts. By doing so, PreMatch enables users to bypass the provider search and login steps, eliminating two of the biggest drop-off points in the traditional flow and resulting in a dramatically simplified direct deposit switching experience.
We’re thrilled to share that Jaimeson Rice has been promoted to be the next Chief Executive Officer of Pinwheel. Jaimeson is succeeding our Co-Founder Kurtis Lin, who is transitioning to a new role as Executive Chairman of the Pinwheel Board of Directors after nearly 8 years leading the company as our founding CEO.
Earlier this year we entered a partnership with TurboTax, aimed at making taxes a little less taxing. By integrating Pinwheel’s technology, we enabled new TurboTax customers to automatically import their prior year’s tax information into their new TurboTax return.
Pinwheel and Narmi first announced their partnership in July 2024, making Pinwheel’s industry-leading deposit switching solution easily available to Narmi platform customers.
In a recent webinar hosted by The Consumer Bankers Association, Pinwheel CEO, Kurtis Lin sat down with Emily Gessner, EVP, Head of Consumer Digital at KeyBank, and Sara Pultman, FVP of Digital Deposit Strategy at Berkshire Bank, to unpack what “primacy” really means in today’s digitally driven landscape—and how banks need to rethink customer engagement to achieve it.
The recent determination by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that its own open banking rule under Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act is unlawful and should be set aside sent waves through fintech and financial services circles.
In a financial landscape shaped by high customer expectations and rapid digital transformation, loyalty isn’t given—it’s earned.
In today's competitive financial landscape, delivering exceptional digital experiences is paramount for institutions aiming to enhance customer engagement and drive growth. However, it’s tough to differentiate from the “sea of sameness” across digital financial experiences.
We are thrilled to announce that Paychex, a leading provider of integrated human capital management software solutions for human resources, employee benefits, insurance services, and payroll, has joined the Pinwheel PreMatch network.
A leading credit union has a long-standing commitment to delivering personalized financial solutions that empower their ~400k members to achieve their unique financial goals.In 2024, they embarked on a digital experience upgrade aimed at providing members more financial control and a more convenient banking experience.
A leading consumer financial institution offers a suite of personalized banking, lending, and wealth management services to help both individuals and families achieve their financial goals. In 2024, they sought to enhance the value of their premium product with a differentiated digital experience.
From breaking down barriers to new account activation, to launching new customers through our expanding partnership network, we’re proud to highlight some of the major milestones that have kept Pinwheel at the forefront of innovation in financial technology.
Lumin Digital platform customer, Citadel Credit Union, has launched their Direct Deposit Manager product, enabled by Pinwheel Deposit Switch.
We are thrilled to welcome another Jack Henry Banno platform customer, Security Bank of Kansas City (SBKC), to the Pinwheel family.
"We’re excited to partner with MoneyLion to deliver a more seamless and effective direct deposit switching experience,” said Kurtis Lin, CEO & Co-Founder of Pinwheel.
Direct deposits and primary bills are not competing priorities—banks need them both to achieve primacy, and capturing them early on in the customer lifecycle is key. The Pinwheel Switch Kit is a game-changing solution that enables users to switch their deposits and bill payments during onboarding.
From groundbreaking product developments to new partnerships, 2024 has been a banner year for Pinwheel, our partners, and our customers.
n an era dominated by digital innovation, physical branches remain relevant—and even essential. While many national financial institutions are doubling down on digital channels and closing branches, 60% of new accounts are still being opened in person. This underscores a critical competitive differentiator for credit unions, who maintain a unique home town advantage.
Pinwheel Pulse is where we share recent highlights on our journey to building solutions that drive primacy and unlock the potential of payroll connectivity.
A new and powerful tool for banks to leverage in their battle for primacy.
We began beta testing our groundbreaking new solution for authorizing payroll accounts in Q1 2024. And we’re thrilled to share that the industry’s only 100% credential-less solution that automatically identifies users’ payroll accounts is living up to the hype.
Pinwheel Prime’s intelligent waterfall covers 100% of U.S. payroll scenarios and delivers 30% more successful conversions than any other provider in the industry.
Neo-banks like Cash App and Chime have mastered the art of digital onboarding, leveraging automated direct deposit features as a key driver of customer acquisition and long-term engagement. By investing in payroll integrations that deliver a seamless direct deposit enrollment option during onboarding, these fintech giants have grown their actively funded user base at hyper speeds.
Nassau Financial’s mission is to improve the financial well-being of each member in the communities we serve, reflecting the credit union philosophy of "People helping people."
Implementation of the Pinwheel Prematch feature took Perpay only 3 weeks, after which they saw an immediate performance uplift. For Perpay customers eligible for PreMatch, they saw a 2.19x increase to switch success rate, and an 11% overall switch conversion improvement.
In the ever-evolving landscape of banking and fintech, winning the primary banking relationship has never been more difficult. In our recent white paper, Primacy in personalized banking: a moving target, we reveal new consumer insights that emphasize the importance of offering seamless digital experiences to win and keep customers.
Learn about changes to consumer behavior that have affected financial institutions' ability to achieve and defend primacy.
See what's driving the acceleration of bank switching across generations.
Are you curious about the latest behavioral trends in consumer banking? Do you want to know how top financial institutions are adapting to meet evolving customer needs?
Discover what consumers believe is needed for bank account primacy, and what really motivates them to switch.
With most banks focusing investments on digital and reducing branch networks, 60% of new accounts are still being opened in branch. For decades, bank branches have been a cornerstone of everyday life in America’s cities and towns. But these days, branches are getting harder and harder to come by. By the end of 2023, the number of bank branches in the U.S.
Are credit scores missing the point?Despite the lip service in banking pledging fairness and equity, systemic issues can allow discrimination in extending credit to surface in unexpected ways. One glaring example is the industry’s struggle to underwrite those who have non-traditional career histories or those who make their living through self employment or the gig economy. Whether they need to produce two years’ worth of tax returns or a specific credit score, many financially secure Americans still struggle to present the “right” paperwork. As a result, banks cannot deliver an optimal experience for:
A conversation with Chris Powell, EVP & Head of Deposits, Citizens Bank and Kurtis Lin, Co-Founder & CEO, Pinwheel. Last month, Pinwheel hosted a webinar with the Consumer Bankers Association to explore our latest research on The Power of Primacy conducted in partnership with The Digital Banking Report. In a discussion moderated by Pinwheel CMO, Crystal Gopman, Chris Powell, EVP and Head of Deposits at Citizens Bank and Pinwheel CEO, Kurtis Lin, delved deep into the challenges banks are facing today as they compete for share of wealth with the modern consumer.
The next time you’re browsing on your phone, add this idea to your cart: Does your bank need to engage customers less like an overworked teller and more like Amazon?In a climate of exploding technology and regulatory scrutiny, the BAI Banking Outlook: 2024 Trends survey identified the customer digital experience as a top priority for this year, citing technology integration and intuitive platforms as the pathways to engagement that’s personal, frictionless – and even somewhat fun. But as you know, fraud mitigation and other protocols can introduce drag and result in user drop-off. “Somewhat unfairly, customers measure their bank’s digital delivery of services against the practices of world-class online retailers,” the survey concludes.
Ensuring Digital Security in the rapidly evolving digital world, the importance of security cannot be overstated. As the Chief Information Security Officer at Pinwheel, I'm at the forefront of our battle against digital threats. Our mission is clear: to safeguard our clients' data with the most robust security measures available. This dedication is embodied in our two flagship products: Pinwheel Core and Pinwheel Prime.
Are your new customer acquisition goals higher than ever in 2024? Yes? Then, you’re on trend. Late last year, the BAI surveyed 102 financial services organizations to gain insights for the coming year. The findings of the study, the BAI 2024 Banking Outlook, placed customer acquisition in the top two priorities—just behind deposit growth—for bankers. Coming in third? You can probably guess. Enhanced digital banking experiences. And we’re here for it.
The report highlights a significant disconnect between banks' customer acquisition strategies and consumer behavior. While banks continue to invest heavily in account opening incentives, such as cash bonuses and promotional offers, these efforts often fall short of their intended goal. To the dismay of banks, although they spend high acquisition costs to attract new customers, many of these accounts remain dormant.
My january piece on the offer wars got me thinking: what actually motivates consumers to switch banks? Are rich account opening incentives turning heads, or is our industry missing the mark? To answer this question, we partnered with Savanta research to understand the inner dialogue of a consumer contemplating a new banking relationship.
Pinwheel was founded to unlock powerful income data for financial institutions, so that they can better serve their users with more personalized products, driving long term relationships that are proven to deliver better financial outcomes. Introducing the Dashboard Activity Page for Real-Time Engagement Insights.
We are thrilled to announce Pinwheel's new strategic partnership with Jack Henry, a leading financial technology company, which gives their customers a fast path to implementation for the industry's top performing Direct Deposit Switching solution. This collaboration is set to revolutionize the digital direct deposit setup experience for accountholders at community and regional financial institutions.
Banks rival top brands like Coke and P&G as the highest spending advertisers in the world. And bank marketing teams - channeling their best Cardi B energy - literally make money move with hundreds of millions of dollars at their disposal to hit annual growth goals. While the accounts keep rolling in, there’s a frantic scramble as institutions fumble in their attempts to convert active customers and meaningful engagement through aggressive, unsustainable offers.
As the Chief Revenue Officer at Pinwheel, I speak to executives from the world’s top banks every day and I see first hand how rapidly the financial services industry is changing. With approximately 94% of the U.S. population holding bank accounts and a staggering 13 million new accounts opened in 2022, the competitive quest for primacy, or being the primary account for a customer, is more intense than ever. That’s why digital advertising spend is on track to close out 2023 by surpassing $30 billion.
Introducing our first-of-its-kind, reimagined automated direct deposit switching experience, expected to at least double end-to-end conversion.
Learn about how Smart Branch enables a new generation of integrated omnichannel campaigns.
Deposit Switch 2.0 allows every US worker to update their direct deposit settings regardless of where their direct deposit comes from.
Before integrating a payroll connectivity API, you should evaluate it based on coverage, conversion, implementation, security, and compliance.
A 12-page guide to leveraging earned wage access (EWA) to incentivize direct deposit switching.
