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BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

simple.com

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Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#41

Post by buro9 »

al3x wrote: post #30
buro9 wrote: post #16

I'm not sure I understand the proposition now. Who is the relationship with? As in... who has my money? I read it as them hiding that from you for simplicity... you get this one interface and customer service which is wonderful, but to achieve this they are the proxy to your bank? So... do they set up the bank accounts, or do you? Do you have the ability to go straight to your bank, or does Simple preclude that abili…

Hi, cofounder of Simple here. We work with partner banks who hold on to deposits. For all intents and purposes, you never have to think about who that partner bank is, but if you ever need to contact them directly, you'll know where your funds are. You might find our FAQ informative: https://www.simple.com/faq/ .

Still confused.

Is the account at the partner bank in my name, or that of Simple?

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#42

Post by Umalu »

al3x wrote: post #32
cynicalkane wrote: post #3

I thought BankSimple was a great brand, because it tells you what it is and fits well with the current zeitgeist. What is "BankSimple?" A way to bank that's simple. Sounds interesting! Everyone hates how complicated banking is, right? Let's go to the website to find out more. What is "Simple?" Who knows. A website that has something to do with banking--or so I'm told--with yet another web 2.0 one-word "brand", a real…

The "Bank" in "BankSimple" was problematic for us. We're technically not a bank. We also don't want to be associated with the way people have approached banking, particularly in the US. Sorry you're not crazy about the new name, but we're happy with it. It gives us a lot of room to grow.

There are actually laws prohibiting non-banks from using the word "bank" in their name. A lot of bank holding companies (which are not, technically, banks) got around this by replacing the "k" in "bank" with a "c" -- such as "BancAmerica Corp". I'm sure we all breathed a sigh of regulatory relief seeing that "c" there.

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#43

Post by al3x »

smackfu wrote: post #7

I wonder if there were issues with calling themselves BankX when they are not regulated as a bank. Edit to add, there are definite laws against this in some states, for instance CT (I'm not sure if this would apply in this case, but it's indicative of what is out there): "No partnership, common law trust or association, or individual using a trade name, shall use, either as a part of its name or as a prefix or suffix…

That was a concern, but not the sole reason for our rebranding.

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#44

Post by al3x »

hemancuso wrote: post #24

Burning money on outrageously priced domain names instead of executive bonuses. I love it!

Hi, cofounder of Simple here.

It wasn't a cheap domain, but our investors felt it was worth the expense. It's memorable, flexible, and to-the-point. We're generally not a profligate company, but we felt strongly about this.

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#45

Post by qeorge »

buro9 wrote: post #16

I'm not sure I understand the proposition now. Who is the relationship with? As in... who has my money? I read it as them hiding that from you for simplicity... you get this one interface and customer service which is wonderful, but to achieve this they are the proxy to your bank? So... do they set up the bank accounts, or do you? Do you have the ability to go straight to your bank, or does Simple preclude that abili…

As I understand it:

Banking is a commodity product. Other than access to ATMs, customer service, and online banking there's not much difference between banks (other than rates & fees, of course).

Same goes for the customers, honestly. If the bank doesn't extend you credit anyway, its a "your money is green" situation.

Yet the marketplace is still inefficient, and they think they can make money by making it efficient.

To do so, Simple has defined a standard checking account, if you will. It has x% interest, y fees, etc. Since banks and customers are a commodity, Simple can then say "we have 10000 customers at this price. Any FDIC insured bank - do you want them?" and perform a reverse auction of sorts. Its very much like LendingTree or FeeFighters.

The obvious obstacle is the same with internet banking - what if I need to talk to someone or get money out of an ATM? You're not going to convince me a random bank in New Mexico is interchangeable with Wells Fargo when I need cash.

They are handling this objection by providing a front-end which standardizes the customer service, ATM access (they pay the fee so use whatever ATM), and online banking pieces, and hopefully that standard is high quality.

So you still have an account with XYZ bank in Nowhereville, USA, but you've got a nice front-end instead of a questionable online banking product/customer support. All XYZ bank does is hold your cash for you, and its insured anyway so they can't screw that piece up.

Sounds great to me.

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#46

Post by hemancuso »

al3x wrote: post #44
hemancuso wrote: post #24

Burning money on outrageously priced domain names instead of executive bonuses. I love it!

Hi, cofounder of Simple here. It wasn't a cheap domain, but our investors felt it was worth the expense. It's memorable, flexible, and to-the-point. We're generally not a profligate company, but we felt strongly about this.

Seriously, I love it :) Good luck!

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#47

Post by lhnn »

I don't get what the confusion is. "Simple" (generic name, weak branding..) is a middle-man between banks and you.

Why?

-They have multiple backend banks, so I suppose that keeps you the customer from getting locked into one bank's crappy fee policy.

-They can focus on customer satisfaction and UI rather than be bogged down by becoming a "real" bank.

Any doubts about their trustworthiness because they're not a bank is nothing but FUD, since they explicitly stated multiple times that your money is in a bank.

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#48

Post by al3x »

smarmius wrote: post #5

Honestly, I don't understand this rebranding. Are they making things other than banking simple? I love the idea of making banking more simple and easier, and that's why I thought their previous name, BankSimple, was better. Can someone help me understand this?

Hi, cofounder of Simple here.

We're focused on banking right now, but one of the things we like about the Simple name is that it gives us room to grow.

Another thing the new name gets us is freedom from both legal issues around the term "bank" and negative associations with the retail banking industry.

Plus, people kept mixing up "BankSimple" and "SimpleBank". That was driving me nuts :)

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