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BankSimple: We have cards

banksimple.com

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Re: BankSimple: We have cards

#151

Post by jtheory »

Zev wrote: post #101
mdasen wrote: post #31

Earlier 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.

I imagine they also have a bank-by-mail option, which (I find) is useful if you don't go near your branch normally anyway and don't care about a few days delay in your deposits.

True, it'd be nicer to scan in the check (and not have the mail delay) but it's not a huge pain point for me to drop the envelope in the mail; so I haven't been to my bank's branch in 5 years.

Re: BankSimple: We have cards

#152

Post by dreamdu5t »

salver4m wrote: post #124
palish wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"BankSimple: Personal banking from a company that respects you." That's not a bank?

From the FAQ: So, what’s the deal... are you really a bank? We are not a bank. We work with partner banks (soon to be announced) to provide FDIC insured products. What this means for you is that your money is safely insured with our partners. Our wholesale partners provide the financial products, we provide the customer service and experience.

They're "simple" but they like to play semantics. I mean, really, they have "bank" in the name and they provide banking services. To me, the consumer, they are a bank.

Re: BankSimple: We have cards

#153

Post by notJim »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #50
Aloisius wrote: post #2

Can someone please tell me the benefits of BankSimple over all the other online banks or your local credit union? I'm afraid I don't get it.

Right, there are already good alternatives to consumer-hostile banks, such as the fantastic Charles Schwab. I always recommend them to people because they pay my banking fees, are insured, ethical/reputable, pioneered the discount brokerage, and have great 24/7 customer service. They've helped me out of numerous jams over the years.

I am another fairly happy charles schwab customer, but their UI/UX is absolutely awful. I've used ING Direct, Wells Fargo, a local credit union, Chase, ING Direct, and FIA Card Services, and the only one that had a decent UI was Wells Fargo. With more and more banking happening online, it seems clear that there's some opportunity for a bank that understands online and understands UI to make a big play.

Re: BankSimple: We have cards

#154

Post by mixmastamyk »

notJim wrote: post #153
mixmastamyk wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, there are already good alternatives to consumer-hostile banks, such as the fantastic Charles Schwab. I always recommend them to people because they pay my banking fees, are insured, ethical/reputable, pioneered the discount brokerage, and have great 24/7 customer service. They've helped me out of numerous jams over the years.

I am another fairly happy charles schwab customer, but their UI/UX is absolutely awful. I've used ING Direct, Wells Fargo, a local credit union, Chase, ING Direct, and FIA Card Services, and the only one that had a decent UI was Wells Fargo. With more and more banking happening online, it seems clear that there's some opportunity for a bank that understands online and understands UI to make a big play.

Meh. I agree the website could use some improvement, but it works and has been reliable in my experience. Its heaviness is less important to me than the customer-hostile policies of the average bank. I'm only on it a few mins a week anyway, I get my balance and history quickly and leave.

Re: BankSimple: We have cards

#155

Post by notJim »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #154
notJim wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am another fairly happy charles schwab customer, but their UI/UX is absolutely awful. I've used ING Direct, Wells Fargo, a local credit union, Chase, ING Direct, and FIA Card Services, and the only one that had a decent UI was Wells Fargo. With more and more banking happening online, it seems clear that there's some opportunity for a bank that understands online and understands UI to make a big play.

Meh. I agree the website could use some improvement, but it works and has been reliable in my experience. Its heaviness is less important to me than the customer-hostile policies of the average bank. I'm only on it a few mins a week anyway, I get my balance and history quickly and leave.

I totally agree with you, except that since I use mint, the only time I'm on there is when I suspect mint is out of date, or to mess with my bill pay stuff, so maybe 2 or 3 times a month. I was envisioning a bank that offered the perks of somewhere like Schwab or ING, but with better UI/UX.

Re: BankSimple: We have cards

#156

Post by foobarbazetc »

meterplech wrote: post #130
foobarbazetc wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is this "intelligent" and not obvious, common sense before you roll out a bank ?

Common sense is surprisingly uncommon. You've heard about Friendster falling apart because of scaling issues? Or Kozmo.com expanding to too many cities in too little time... Many companies forget to start small and test

Scaling is not trivial in many cases. Friendster happened before a lot of infrastructure we take for granted now was released into the world.

There's a big difference between that and congratulating people for something bleedingly obvious. Do you really expect them to start manufacturing these cards and rolling out their entire system which deals with people's money without testing the [bleep] out of it?

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