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BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

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Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#281

Post by JoshTriplett »

al3x wrote: post #57
al3x wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/ .

Answering etherealG's question here because I can't reply to him below: Yes, you'll know what institution your funds are at. When you get your Simple card, it'll say "issued by {Bank Name}" on the back.

Does that mean that you'll have to issue new cards if you change the bank you work with?

(Also, what bank do you currently work with? What will the first round of cards say?)

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#283

Post by skrebbel »

Someone wrote: post #279
eliben wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even though I sympathize with the problems having "bank" in a name, "Simple" is just too general to be useful.

http://simpel.com and http://simpel.nl disagree with that statement. http://simple.fr and http://einfach.com also are taken, but redirect.

Nitpicking: simpel.nl is actually a word joke, because they sell SIM-only cell phone subscriptions. So in effect their name does convey more meaning than "Simple" does, so it doesn't really belong in your list :)

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#284

Post by jwt »

jaysonelliot wrote: post #225
al3x wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm a fan of the name Simple instead of BankSimple. I bank with ING and USAA at the moment, and I've never had any trouble with the fact that neither one has the name "Bank" in their brand. I agree, calling it "BankSimple" feels limiting, and carries baggage from bad experiences I've had with banks in the past. Now if only I could get an invitation to open an account!

Do you have to be in the military to have a usaa account or how we you able to use them? I've heard many good things

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#285

Post by CognitiveLens »

qxb wrote: post #76
evan_ wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Many banks in the UK are referred to, and understood, in everyday language without the "bank": Barclays, Halifax, Natwest, Santander, Lloyds to name a few.

I think an important difference is that those are relatively unique words, unlike Simple, which is common and ambiguous.

Telling someone that you have your money in a simple account doesn't convey as much meaning as telling someone you have your money in a Barclay's account.

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#286

Post by CJefferson »

vaporstun wrote: post #12
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…

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…

For me at the moment, googling 'simple' produces nothing which looks like this company. It is going to be a hard term to reach the top of.

Of course they are top for 'banksimple' or 'simple bank'.

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#287

Post by jaysonelliot »

jwt wrote: post #284
jaysonelliot wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a fan of the name Simple instead of BankSimple. I bank with ING and USAA at the moment, and I've never had any trouble with the fact that neither one has the name "Bank" in their brand. I agree, calling it "BankSimple" feels limiting, and carries baggage from bad experiences I've had with banks in the past. Now if only I could get an invitation to open an account!

Do you have to be in the military to have a usaa account or how we you able to use them? I've heard many good things

USAA is available to military and their families. You don't have to be active duty, once you're eligible, you're in for life.

If you do qualify, USAA is about the best company you'll ever deal with for insurance or banking.

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#288

Post by sector »

ganeumann wrote: post #251
sector wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a customer, I'd feel a lot more comfortable if you worked solely as a technology vendor to my bank. This isn't a knock on the team you're putting together, or your ability to build a great company. It's caused by the realities associated with venture capital. Now that you took VC money, there's countdown to an exit, and I have to think about likely buyers. If you're successful, one of the top possibilities is a st…

I was the first investor in Simple. I can't speak for all the investors, but for me this was an investment in making the world a better place. When Josh proposed the idea to me I asked a few people about their experiences with their banks. One of my friends told me how she had accidentally double-booked an airline ticket. This overdrew her account and--since she uses her debit card for everything--she started incurri…

I agree that many retail banks wouldn't be missed by anybody if they disappeared tomorrow; and I applaud and support efforts to improve competition in the sector. I think that we share a vision of what should be in the retail banking sector.

That said, I can't help but think about the capital required to scale the business due to the high customer acquisition costs in the sector. This large capital requirement seems likely to reduce the ability of Simple to have meaningful control over their exit, as it won't all come from impact investors.

I hope the Simple team makes a mark on the market, but I still fear that success means that a large bank purchases them, increases the cross-sells, adds incremental fees, and "streamlines" customer service. I hope my concern is misplaced.

Either way, I'm excited to see what develops, and I think you made a great investment.

Re: BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple

#289

Post by parrispreston »

plusbryan wrote: post #268
al3x wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've explained in our FAQ why we don't do this currently: https://www.simple.com/faq/ Basically, reimbursing ATM fees is an illusion. They charge you over here and reimburse you over there. No net win for most consumers, unfortunately.

I'm curious about this - it's one of the reasons I love banking with Schwab. No fees for ATM use, even internationally. I rarely need cash, but when I do, it's really convenient that I can use any stinky old corner ATM. I ask honestly: what illusion am I missing?

Yeah, ditto to this. I have Schwab and I can go to any ATM and they reimburse me at the end of the month. No yearly, monthly, overdraft fees. nothing.
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