Simple Bank Is Closing • Hacker News Board

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#251

Post by kritiko » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 11:27 PM UTC

skapadia wrote: post #233

drewpc wrote: post #224

I'm a Simple customer and incredibly upset by this decision. For those not familiar with their value add, Simple is essentially "envelope budgeting" built into a banking application. Sure, it's a bank and does bank things. What sets Simple apart is that I can allocate $n/month for an expense and it takes it out of my paycheck and puts it into that expense "envelope". When a charge comes in for that expense, it pulls…

I can't get myself to pay for services like YNAB or mvelopes.com I could see someone wanting to pay for a year or two until they've established the habit of disciplined saving. But to perpetually pay a service to present a (useful) facade over your money doesn't seem right if it's not also instilling habits in you that don't depend on software.

I pay for YNAB. For me it's worth it for their auto-import to take a quick look at my spending across accounts at various institutions and to look at larger trends over time. A lot of folks were annoyed when they went to a subscription model, but I think the visibility they provide really does pay for itself.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#252

Post by llamataboot » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 11:27 PM UTC

Posted about this when I got the email - I used and loved Simple - it helped me budget and save through UX decisions that worked with my psychology and their customer service was real people, real nice, real fast.

I also know people that have worked there that /loved/ it before the acquisition that said it went downhill culture-wise quick thereafter.

If you believe in your product and your people, getting hired by BigCo is almost never the optimal solution for actually growing your product, but I don't blame people for taking their exit checks.

(Some exceptions withstanding - MS seems to be doing a good job with GH so far for example)

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#253

Post by codazoda » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 11:28 PM UTC

drewpc wrote: post #224

I'm a Simple customer and incredibly upset by this decision. For those not familiar with their value add, Simple is essentially "envelope budgeting" built into a banking application. Sure, it's a bank and does bank things. What sets Simple apart is that I can allocate $n/month for an expense and it takes it out of my paycheck and puts it into that expense "envelope". When a charge comes in for that expense, it pulls…

Try Ally Bank for this. I use it in a similar way. They used to let you create a bunch of accounts but they now have "buckets" in their accounts. I find it pretty useful either way.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#254

Post by acjohnson55 » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 11:30 PM UTC

drewpc wrote: post #224

I'm a Simple customer and incredibly upset by this decision. For those not familiar with their value add, Simple is essentially "envelope budgeting" built into a banking application. Sure, it's a bank and does bank things. What sets Simple apart is that I can allocate $n/month for an expense and it takes it out of my paycheck and puts it into that expense "envelope". When a charge comes in for that expense, it pulls…

I use Robinhood's banking feature for this (I don't use them as a brokerage, though). It lets me do direct deposit and automatic withrdrawals from a single account, while earning savings account interest. The interest isn't significant at the moment, but it was nice for a few months, before COVID. I use Mint and Personal Capital for monitoring my budget, rather than earmarking funds.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#255

Post by xeromal » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 11:32 PM UTC

kritiko wrote: post #241

drewpc wrote: post #224

I'm a Simple customer and incredibly upset by this decision. For those not familiar with their value add, Simple is essentially "envelope budgeting" built into a banking application. Sure, it's a bank and does bank things. What sets Simple apart is that I can allocate $n/month for an expense and it takes it out of my paycheck and puts it into that expense "envelope". When a charge comes in for that expense, it pulls…

A few questions: -Why do you need to actually move the money around? -What happens if you overspend in an envelope? -Do you actually have different accounts/routing numbers for the envelopes?

Mentally, moving the money into different envelopes keeps you from spending money you don't have. Behind the scenes, I think they only use one bank account with one account number, but it helps you mentally keep track of where things should be.

You can specify daily transfers to slowly fill up an emergency fund or vacation. The beauty is when your car breaks down, you might have a repair fund that you can deduct from and you don't see your main balance drop.

But it's all just lipstick on a bank. When I used them, I think it was Bancorp, but they moved to a spanish bank when I hopped off.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#256

Post by sushiburps » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 11:33 PM UTC

tadfisher wrote: post #13

caycep wrote: post #3

ouch...the one bank with a really nice user facing app...hoping to hear more details

I've been working on the app for almost 8 years. This means a lot to me. Thank you.

App is amazing. I'm heartbroken I'm losing it.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#257

Post by sushiburps » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 11:36 PM UTC

alwillis wrote: post #4

Is there something that’s reasonably close to Simple as a replacement?

I'm in the US Monzo beta. The app is super solid, has envelope budgeting features, can automatically divvy up your paycheck like Expenses. Hoping they open up invites before Simple shuts.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#258

Post by pedroma » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 11:37 PM UTC

acjohnson55 wrote: post #254

drewpc wrote: post #224

I'm a Simple customer and incredibly upset by this decision. For those not familiar with their value add, Simple is essentially "envelope budgeting" built into a banking application. Sure, it's a bank and does bank things. What sets Simple apart is that I can allocate $n/month for an expense and it takes it out of my paycheck and puts it into that expense "envelope". When a charge comes in for that expense, it pulls…

I use Robinhood's banking feature for this (I don't use them as a brokerage, though). It lets me do direct deposit and automatic withrdrawals from a single account, while earning savings account interest. The interest isn't significant at the moment, but it was nice for a few months, before COVID. I use Mint and Personal Capital for monitoring my budget, rather than earmarking funds.

I'm also going to do everything through my brokerage from now on. I realized I didn't use any of the budgeting or goal features anyways.

I was using the goals in the beginning, but the rates just kept going down.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#259

Post by dluan » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 11:37 PM UTC

Why can't the community buy it or it be turned into a steward owned company? This seems like a terrible loss.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#260

Post by jimmaswell » Thu, Jan 07, 2021, 11:38 PM UTC

kritiko wrote: post #241

drewpc wrote: post #224

I'm a Simple customer and incredibly upset by this decision. For those not familiar with their value add, Simple is essentially "envelope budgeting" built into a banking application. Sure, it's a bank and does bank things. What sets Simple apart is that I can allocate $n/month for an expense and it takes it out of my paycheck and puts it into that expense "envelope". When a charge comes in for that expense, it pulls…

A few questions: -Why do you need to actually move the money around? -What happens if you overspend in an envelope? -Do you actually have different accounts/routing numbers for the envelopes?

For people who have no self control without resorting to playing tricks on themselves I guess. I can't empathize at all, all I need is a spreadsheet at most, but I guess it works for some people.