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A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks

nytimes.com

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Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks

#11

Post by [deleted] »

m0th87 wrote: post #6
dreamdu5t wrote: post #3

What are people "fed up" with exactly? Overdraft fees? All banks ask you to opt-in. Is that really the thing people are "fed up" with? I find it hard to believe these people have much money, and why Simple would want these idiots. I have no issues depositing my money quickly, withdrawing my money, and accessing a transaction log. My bank even provides a mobile app to do this. I was asked to opt-in to overdraft, and a…

It might help to try to understand the target demographic rather than handwaving them as idiots. I have a decent amount of money, and I'm most certainly fed up with my institutional bank. An increasing share of my money is making its way into my Simple account for a number of reasons: 1) Banks do have you opt-in for fees, but typically through opaque changes to terms and conditions. When my bank was acquired, I start…

[deleted]

Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks

#12

Post by philwelch »

dreamdu5t wrote: post #3

What are people "fed up" with exactly? Overdraft fees? All banks ask you to opt-in. Is that really the thing people are "fed up" with? I find it hard to believe these people have much money, and why Simple would want these idiots. I have no issues depositing my money quickly, withdrawing my money, and accessing a transaction log. My bank even provides a mobile app to do this. I was asked to opt-in to overdraft, and a…

Overdraft fees are shit. The best banks just give you a line of credit that's hooked up to your checking account that it automatically draws on in case of overdraft, leaving you with nothing to pay but a few cents interest. Or at least let you automatically hook your savings account up so it automatically throws a chunk of money into your checking account when you overdraft.

Fees in general are shit. Another example: ATM fees. Decent banks don't charge ATM fees. The best banks not only don't charge ATM fees, but if the ATM itself charges a fee, the bank refunds you the money themselves.

Also shit: minimum balances. Chase waives the minimum balance if you have a direct deposit, except I don't want to direct deposit into my checking account. I want to direct deposit into my savings account to use as a buffer. Then, every month, I can withdraw only that month's budgeted amount into my checking accounts. And since I only withdraw the budgeted amount every month, the balance should be 0 at the end of the month, which is why I don't want to worry about overdrafts.

Maybe your use case is different from mine, but the fact is, all the terms I'm asking for are available on the market already and I don't have time or patience for banks that don't accommodate me when they have competitors who will.

Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks

#13

Post by jbwyme »

Although I'm happy to see someone attempt to do what Simple is attempting to do, I don't think any sizable amount of people will be willing to drop their bank and move to an alternative that doesn't allow cash deposits. I have two bank accounts I regularly use: one is a regional bank based in Texas and the other is Wells Fargo.

I hate my Wells Fargo account but I keep it open so I can deposit money and I can receive account transfers easily from other people. Even with this setup I sometimes find it difficult to get the money where I need it (specifically out of my Wells Fargo account into my regional bank account) without hassle (and fees).

Anyways, the MVP if you will for a bank that I would switch over to would be one that allows me to deposit from anywhere (checks from home, cash from any ATM anywhere that accepts deposits), withdraw from anywhere, and transfer to any other account in a timely fashion.

Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks

#14

Post by majormajor »

dreamdu5t wrote: post #3

What are people "fed up" with exactly? Overdraft fees? All banks ask you to opt-in. Is that really the thing people are "fed up" with? I find it hard to believe these people have much money, and why Simple would want these idiots. I have no issues depositing my money quickly, withdrawing my money, and accessing a transaction log. My bank even provides a mobile app to do this. I was asked to opt-in to overdraft, and a…

Wells Fargo did their best (and eventually succeeded) to drive me away from having a checking account with them. I wanted to use it as a secondary checking account (my main one is with a local credit union) with a wider reach ATM/deposit-acceptance wise, and they wanted me to first jump through hoops to avoid a monthly fee if I wasn't receiving direct deposits on that account, and then eventually even those hoops weren't enough and they put a fee on it.

Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks

#15

Post by philwelch »

m0th87 wrote: post #6
dreamdu5t wrote: post #3

What are people "fed up" with exactly? Overdraft fees? All banks ask you to opt-in. Is that really the thing people are "fed up" with? I find it hard to believe these people have much money, and why Simple would want these idiots. I have no issues depositing my money quickly, withdrawing my money, and accessing a transaction log. My bank even provides a mobile app to do this. I was asked to opt-in to overdraft, and a…

It might help to try to understand the target demographic rather than handwaving them as idiots. I have a decent amount of money, and I'm most certainly fed up with my institutional bank. An increasing share of my money is making its way into my Simple account for a number of reasons: 1) Banks do have you opt-in for fees, but typically through opaque changes to terms and conditions. When my bank was acquired, I start…

> Simple has ATMs everywhere since it's part of Allpoint

To be frank with you, Allpoint is pretty shit wherever I've lived. I don't want to have to go to some dilapidated 7-11 to use their ATM. I want to use any ATM I see on the street with no fee. It turns out I could get that with either USAA or, apparently, Charles Schwab.

> Their apps are just beautiful. Dealing with financial matters is probably the thing I dread most in day-to-day endeavors. Simple completely changes that equation; it makes the process actually pleasant.

Can't really comment, except USAA and ING Direct (soon to become Capital One 360) both have perfectly usable web sites, and USAA's web site is even an acceptable Mint, if that's what you want. (Personally, I use spreadsheets.)

> From a political perspective, I just find most banks (including my institutional one) deplorable. Their role in the financial crisis, and their behavior afterward deserves repercussions.

Isn't Simple backended by an institutional bank?

Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks

#16

Post by _delirium »

dreamdu5t wrote: post #3

What are people "fed up" with exactly? Overdraft fees? All banks ask you to opt-in. Is that really the thing people are "fed up" with? I find it hard to believe these people have much money, and why Simple would want these idiots. I have no issues depositing my money quickly, withdrawing my money, and accessing a transaction log. My bank even provides a mobile app to do this. I was asked to opt-in to overdraft, and a…

My annoyance is that I signed up for "free checking for life", and now I have a checking account that has monthly fees! I signed up for Washington Mutual for that reason. At some point, Chase purchased their banking operations, and retained the legacy free-checking accounts. But some time after that, they decided to no longer continue to honor those terms, and added a monthly fee. Now they'll charge me a $10 fee in any month that I allow my balance to drop below $1500. I did not opt into that. Now I have to opt out by closing my account.

Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks

#18

Post by untog »

GuiA wrote: post #7

I tried opening an account with Simple, as I heard all the buzz around the company and it seemed like they had a nice mobile app. A friend got me an invite to their service (it's invite only right now). So I fill out their online application, and they say they'll get back to me. Cool. A few days later, I get an email saying that they'll need additional verification because I've been a victim of identity theft in the…

I got an invite, went to the sign up page and then found out that I have to have an iPhone to use it.

Cmd-W.

Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks

#19

Post by barik »

GuiA wrote: post #7

I tried opening an account with Simple, as I heard all the buzz around the company and it seemed like they had a nice mobile app. A friend got me an invite to their service (it's invite only right now). So I fill out their online application, and they say they'll get back to me. Cool. A few days later, I get an email saying that they'll need additional verification because I've been a victim of identity theft in the…

> Of course my $50+ in notary fees are lost.

Somewhat ironically, you could go to a bank to have this done for free if you happen to be a customer of the bank (and many times, even if you're not). Wells Fargo has free notary services for their customers, as one example, and this is pretty much the only time I actually have had to step into a physical branch.

Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks

#20

Post by m0th87 »

philwelch wrote: post #15
m0th87 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might help to try to understand the target demographic rather than handwaving them as idiots. I have a decent amount of money, and I'm most certainly fed up with my institutional bank. An increasing share of my money is making its way into my Simple account for a number of reasons: 1) Banks do have you opt-in for fees, but typically through opaque changes to terms and conditions. When my bank was acquired, I start…

> Simple has ATMs everywhere since it's part of Allpoint To be frank with you, Allpoint is pretty shit wherever I've lived. I don't want to have to go to some dilapidated 7-11 to use their ATM. I want to use any ATM I see on the street with no fee. It turns out I could get that with either USAA or, apparently, Charles Schwab. > Their apps are just beautiful. Dealing with financial matters is probably the thing I drea…

RE: USAA, Charles Schwab, etc., this is a fair point. All of them have solid reputations. Any idea which one provides the highest interest rates?

> Isn't Simple backended by an institutional bank?

This is a good point, the answer to which I'm unsure.

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