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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

#111

Post by ynniv »

maaku wrote: post #94
al3x wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi, cofounder of Simple here. From a regulatory perspective, we're a lot like a prepaid card. It's a well-known model that banking authorities, legal experts, and the government is comfortable with. You probably already use financial products that work similarly to the way we do. That said, we hold ourselves to the same security standards that "real" banks do. I'd like to think we're going above and beyond when it co…

"a lot like a prepaid card" doesn't answer the question. In what ways is it like a prepaid card? In what ways is it not? As the OP asked, where does the money actually go? It's a concern that you couldn't really answer the question.

I think that you are wrong that this is a concern. HN is not a financial forum, and you are asking for technical details that are irrelevant to the discussion. Simple's statement is that your money is in a third party bank, and Simple promises to be a prudent intermediary.

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#112

Post by tadfisher »

evan_ wrote: post #13
vaporstun wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I think this may be true at first, if they gain any critical mass, the "Bank" in BankSimple would become redundant and wasteful. I think it is good and forward looking to rebrand it Simple before launch so that becomes synonymous with banking. Imagine if Google was instead called GoogleSearch? Google became synonymous for Search and therefore the Search portion of their name is superfluous. I for one applaud th…

Like how the "bank" in "Bank of America" is redundant and wasteful? To clarify, I don't really care either way- I'm sure they had other reasons for dropping the "Bank" from their name, especially since they're not really a bank.

Colloquially, they're "B of A".

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#113

Post by hcal »

Lewisham wrote: post #84

Did anyone else see this in the FAQ? Who can use Simple? To be eligible, you must: - Be a resident of the United States and over the age of 18; - Have a Social Security number; and - Own a smartphone (iPhone or Android). Do I really need to have a smartphone? Well, you need to have an iOS (version 4.2 or higher) or Android device. Android phones and iPhones are preferable so that you can deposit checks using your sma…

I would suggest that they are no more interested in doing business with customers without a smartphone than ING Direct is interested in doing business with people who don't use the web. I think the general consensus is that the majority of banking is going to mobile over the next few years, and Simple is betting on it. Why waste a metric ton of money to service people without smartphones when 90+% of the customers you want will have them within the next few years.

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#114

Post by nickik »

beforebeta wrote: post #26

Anyone notice the name "Joeseph Schumpeter" on the sample card? Its a reference to Schumpeter's Creative Destruction - further implying them to be in the process of destroying the old ways of doing things (in this case banking) with a radically different approach. Love it!

Where? I cant find it. But I think its a fantastic idea. I really love the idea of "Creative Destruction". The people who always go "but that will cost jobs blabla" always pisses me off because they only see the bad and not the good. Until we hit "real" AI there will be alot more work to be done.

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#115

Post by phi1618 »

Interesting concept, but I'm skeptical how successful it can be. Banks are trying to get more money out of customers, in large part, to compensate for the costs of cyber-theft. Banks would rather reimburse your stolen money and recapture it through xyz fee, than lose your confidence.

Simple does nothing to solve the bigger issue of our insecure networks. From what I've seen, they're no different from any other company offering online banking services. Add in the fact that they don't have any physical collateral, and maybe they're even more vulnerable than traditional banks...

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#118

Post by cfontes »

How did they got hold of such a generic domain ? how much did it cost ? was it still freely available ? I agree some of my friends here in HN and also think BankSimple.com was way better than Simple.com But good luck anyways, you are doing something I wish I could do here in Brazil without behind crushed. Cheers

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#119

Post by bisrig »

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 a follow-on to this, it certainly appears (from quick searches of your site as well as reading through this thread) as though you are not disclosing which banks you are specifically partnering with... this is certainly your choice, of course, but given the events of the past few years, I think that there's a significant number of people that make an active choice not to use certain banks due to their past behaviors - if I were to sign up for something like this, I would be concerned that there would be a chance that I could be implicitly supporting a company that I'm actively not supporting today. Is there any notion of being able to "choose" the partner bank your account is held with, or at least being able to screen a list prior to opening an account?

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#120

Post by mrgordon »

286c8cb04bda wrote: post #81
bradleyland wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simple's FAQ says no fees: https://www.simple.com/faq/ Although you may be referring to third-party ATM fees. I'm curious which banks still reimburse for third-party ATM fees. Can you share the name of your bank?

Not the OP, but I have a bank account at Schwab[1], and they refund all ATM fees that other banks charge. [1] http://www.schwab.com/

Schwab rocks!

Fidelity also has a similar account although it is a joint checking/brokerage account and the interface is tailored towards the brokerage side.

Glad to see more competition in this space. Give me something even better than Schwab :)

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