I think BankSimple is going to struggle to find customers with its current proposition. The fact is that people are not as unhappy with their banks' fees, customer support or websites as BankSimple thinks (or at least suggests). People like branches and brands. The one thing people do like is products which is how ING broke into the business but an approach that BankSimple appears not to be pursuing.
BankSimple: We have cards
141–150 of 157 posts
Re: BankSimple: We have cards
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
In some ways, they're over-reaching. Sure, people hate the banks right now and it seems like a cash-cow industry that one could really disrupt. However, banking has a lot of competitors including not-for-profit ones in the form of credit unions. It will be very difficult to offer higher rates, better service, etc. than a non-profit credit union while one is trying to make a profit. However, if I were BankSimple and y…
Chase has an iPhone app that lets you scan checks. Only for small amounts. If the check is for a large amount (over $750? I'm not sure exactly what the limit is), the app will refuse to let you scan it in and tell you to go to a branch instead.
It's $1000. I've found that this is an issue with rent checks pretty regularly.
Re: BankSimple: We have cards
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's no longer offered, but I have a credit card from Schwab that gives me a flat 2% cashback every month on every purchase, no opt-ins every month, no tiers, no limits. The cash gets ACHd into my checking account. The card has 0% foreign exchange fees, free concierge service, 90 day price-drop match guarantee, doubles every manufacturers warranty up to 5 years (aside from things like cars), and has $0 annual fee. An…
As another owner of this card, I have to note that Schwab is no longer "subsidizing" this card, and has completely been disassociated from it. I believe the reason was that they weren't making any money off of it, but my memory is a bit foggy now. It is now serviced by FIA Services, no longer available to new customers, and of course terms and conditions are subject to change. So far, nothing has changed, but still,…
The card doesn't stand alone, though. The point is there are tertiary banks that are more consumer friendly. Schwab, yes, and for them the credit crisis put their 2% card on the chopping block. But another tertiary bank, Fidelity, still offers the card that's always been like the Sister Card for the Schwab Visa: The Fidelity Amex is also an FIA card that is nearly identical in terms. It's reward structure involves tiers but it's very clearly a 2% card. And it has a 1% FETF.
Aside from that, it's identical.
And it doesn't change the fact that Schwab put together the terms of this card (certainly with the help of FIA) and that a more traditionally mainstream bank has not.
I also have the British Airways Chase card that literally has netted me a free Biz Class ticket to Europe. Very generous. But that's a signing bonus. If I were to keep this card as my daily-driver for a couple years Chase would make a lot more money off me than Schwab ever would've off the card that's now the "FIA Cash Rewards Visa"
Re: BankSimple: We have cards
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
You might make a case for "happening" with bitcoin, but the banking industry is far from "revolutionized" in the past-tense. Besides which, currency and customer support are two very different pieces of a much larger pie. At best, currency is the "implementation detail" behind a much larger set of day-to-day usability concerns inherent in banking.
Well given that just with the bitcoin client alone many banking services are either no longer needed or already provided by the bitcoin network. Savings, transfers(much faster than any bank transfer, I mean my bitcoin reaches it's destination before I can finish filling in the bank transfer forms), security. All there. I don't need customer support when there's no problems. I've never had something so easy to use to…
I'm not discrediting it's future potential, but the number of things which you can buy with bitcoin right now is extremely limited
Re: BankSimple: We have cards
#145Re: BankSimple: We have cards
#146I've always wondered why after winning something (or in this case, getting 50k sign ups), people say "I'm humbled." I think the truth would be the opposite: "Wow, looks like I'm pretty awesome after all."
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/false_modesty
Yes, and it becomes to be a kind of cliché here and around. We could list them. Years ago we had the "X reasons to" lists, now we have "I'm very humble to be the best". It is a "preciosity" (not sure if this word applies correctly in English, I need to read Les Précieuses Ridicules, Molière, in English to make sure). Really intersting guys like PG do not usually have these preciosities themselves, but it is something that flourish during interesting times (like was Molière's).
Re: BankSimple: We have cards
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
> How will overdrafts work? Will the check just not go through? That's how it used to work, so sure, it's an option. A second option would be automatically taking the money out of your savings account, if available. A third option is, if you have a credit card with them, putting the overage on you your credit card. A fourth option would be to generate an automatic overage loan at a reasonable interest rate, without a…
Hell, an automatic loan with an _unreasonable_ interest rate would be better than a $30 charge on a $5 overdraft.
ING Direct offers this option.
https://home.ingdirect.com/products/products.asp?s=ElectricO...
Re: BankSimple: We have cards
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the US (and the UK I believe), debit card transactions are done through mastercard/visa and can incur similar fees. You can also type your debit card number on online purchases and it will work correctly, vs. interac where that doesn't work. Interac is very nice for retailers in canada since it's just one flat .25 fee for any transaction, just limited by your daily card limit.
I thought that fees and such were only incurred when you ran your debit card as a credit card transaction, with signing your name and such - I was under the impression that using your PIN number and using it as debit didn't incur those costs.
From memory, I am quite sure that here in Australia standard bank cards, which are generally referred to as debit cards, use an entirely different fee structure to credit cards. These bank cards always require a PIN and work on the EFTPOS network. Important, as you can't use them online. The rate is a flat one if I'm correct.
Debit cards issued by Visa or Mastercard and operating over those networks incur a lower fee than credit cards but follow the same interchange fee structure. Australian Visa interchange fees are here: http://bit.ly/visainterchangefees. Just incase anyone was interested. Whether or not these cards require a PIN or signature depends on whether they use the Chip-and-PIN system, which all new cards issued in Australia should.
Re: BankSimple: We have cards
#149Only 4 days after losing their Lead Engineer. http://twitter.com/#!/KirinDave/status/70217986962751488
Interesting that his pic is still in their "Team" mosaic on the homepage.
Yes -- either they want to keep his pic there, to give the false impression that they're still benefiting from his expertise! Or even worse, now that Dave has left, there's no one in the company technically capable enough to update their home page.
Either way, this is serious! I'm going to start on my "breaking news" blog post now!
Or, you know, they could be busy with work that's actually important.
Re: BankSimple: We have cards
#150As I understand it, banks make a large amount of revenues from fees and such. How will BankSimple succeed if it doesn't use that? How will overdrafts work? Will the check just not go through? I love that they are trying to revolutionize the banking industry, and I wish them well. But I'm afraid that they'll succumb to adverse selection to the greatest degree. The reality is that most of a bank's customers are not pro…
> How will overdrafts work? Will the check just not go through? That's how it used to work, so sure, it's an option. A second option would be automatically taking the money out of your savings account, if available. A third option is, if you have a credit card with them, putting the overage on you your credit card. A fourth option would be to generate an automatic overage loan at a reasonable interest rate, without a…
Ask your current bank about an "overdraft line of credit". I have a US bank account with a boring, not-cutting-edge-in-any-way bank, and I specifically asked for this (and got it) for both my personal & business accounts. So I suspect it's an option that's available at most banks if you have a decent credit history.
I have a 2500 or 3K credit line attached to each account; if I overdraw my balance -- with a bill payment, ATM withdrawal, whatever -- the extra comes from the overdraft line of credit, and there aren't any fees. I even used to be able to transfer money from the overdraft credit line into my checking account using their online interface, but they've turned that off now.
I've never overdrawn for more than a few days (due to poor planning, generally), so it's a perfect safety net... I always hated those fees!
It's not quite the same as a normal credit card line, I suppose -- where if I pay off the balance at the next statement, I pay no interest -- but the interest has never been more than pocket change, so I haven't even bothered looking it up.
[edit: sorry; I intended to post this in response to a post replying to you, not your post]