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Simple Bank Is Closing

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Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#261

Post by xeromal »

ac29 wrote: post #105
noirbot wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My worry with most credit unions is that most of the ones commonly recommended have requirements for who can be a member, or are geographically tied. I'm unlikely to live in the same city for as long as I'd want to keep a bank account, and I'm not military or otherwise. Do you have a good recommendation for a CU that's more generally an option?

FYI: "Credit unions generally follow the principle of "once a member, always a member", which allows a member with a current credit union membership to remain a member even if they would otherwise no longer qualify to be such, such as leaving the company with whom they initially gained membership or moving outside the credit union's defined geographic area." This is certainly true for the credit union I am a member o…

I joined a CU in Utah in 2009 and have lived in California for a number of years. I've been able to get 2 car loans through them, a personal loan, and a credit card after being a non-resident of Utah. They've treated me well. The only thing I think people may have trouble with is home loans. I think those are pretty geographically tied.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#262

Post by duhi88 »

kritiko wrote: post #251
skapadia wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I tried it. Auto-import never worked reliably. I asked their customer support for help, and they said I should just do it manually.

They seemed like a close alternative, but if I'm doing all this work manually, I might as well use a spread sheet for free.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#263

Post by sushiburps »

Jtsummers wrote: post #134
nine_k wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not BoA or Chase, for instance? Can you please highlight the key differentiating features?

BoA has had some anti-consumer habits in the past which caused me to burn almost all bridges with them. They were among the banks who would process all charges and deposits in a day starting with the largest charge and ending with the largest deposit. This let them ding you for many more insufficient balance fees (each small charge once you were below a $0 balance got you a new $25 or $50 fee; this hit a colleague an…

I was with BofA during this time, around 2006. On top of posting highest to lowest, they had a hidden account allowance, called a "Matrix allowance", which was basically a hidden line of credit behind every checking account. It was the maximum amount of money the bank would allow the account to become overdrawn before denying transactions. The allowance amount increased if the account became overdrawn frequency and the overdraft fees were paid.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#264

Post by noirbot »

nucleardog wrote: post #198
ac29 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI: "Credit unions generally follow the principle of "once a member, always a member", which allows a member with a current credit union membership to remain a member even if they would otherwise no longer qualify to be such, such as leaving the company with whom they initially gained membership or moving outside the credit union's defined geographic area." This is certainly true for the credit union I am a member o…

Can add more anecdata. Joined a regional credit union, moved across the country. I can use the ATMs of the regional credit union in the new area for free if I need an ATM, and my original credit union has been more than happy to facilitate everything else I need via phone and email. And the "phone" agents are literally just the same staff I'd be talking to at the branch I opened the account at, not some call centre,…

That's good to know. Obviously, with Simple, I was fine with not having a local branch, but I'd worry that signing up at a local CU and then moving, they'd just expect that I could come in to the local branch for things. I've had issues around that with my family even with larger banks, where they just assume that I can show up at a local branch to sign papers or such, and it's a big pain to get them to mail things, let alone let me transact online.

It's one thing to be online-only, it's another thing to have online, but expect everyone to live near a military base, or in a particular city.

I suppose I'll just bring it up when I apply!

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#265

Post by jbreen811 »

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.

Switched to Simple a few years ago and what you did really helped me get things under control. Many others here have expressed it, but you changed my life.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#266

Post by xeromal »

chungy wrote: post #9

Can someone explain what Simple was so I might understand the significance of their closure?

A modern app that looked and worked great, a customer service team you could call and you'd recognize their name because you worked with them before, low fees, and a killer envelope saving feature.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#267

Post by pedroma »

skapadia wrote: post #237
adamesque wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the parent literally typed that they used to do just this, didn't have to anymore thanks to Simple, and didn't want to go back. I'm also a bummed Simple customer and they made it so easy to set up buckets for literally anything with zero overhead, which encouraged a ton of saving from me.

How long have you been a customer? Do you feel it's changed your habits to the point where you wouldn't need to rely on software to save (other than spreadsheets)? (I totally understand your point about the "zero overhead" - that is really appealing)

Not the person you're asking, but I've been a Simple user since 2016.

When I started, I was diligenty using the savings goals. I had a goal for a car, a house down payment, cell phone upgrade, etc.

Eventually as my account and goals grew, I found it to be stupid to leave so much uninvested. I just kept a mental note to keep my balance at around $15-20k, transferred everything else to my brokerage.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#268

Post by fb42 »

drewpc wrote: post #236
skapadia wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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'm in the same boat. In a world before I found Simple, a spreadsheet with all of my monthly expenses and totals for each account transfer I needed to do was good enough. I can't get myself to see the additional value of mvelopes.com. Simple, however, was a game changer for me. Sad.

What’s the main difference between Simple and YNAB? I’m a YNAB user but have never used Simple. You say that you can’t see the extra value of mvelopes (and I assume YNAB) but if you don’t have Simple then why is YNAB not good enough?

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#269

Post by m8s »

remir wrote: post #246
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 couple of days ago, I opened a YNAB account to test it out and had the same reasoning: why can't my bank do all of that envelope budgeting stuff?

Just as a heads up, you can email support after your free trial and ask for an extension. They'll pretty much always give it to you. If you're a student, you can send in your student ID and get a year free. YNAB changed my life.

Re: Simple Bank Is Closing

#270

Post by Saris »

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…

Ally added buckets last year on their savings accounts which is the same kind of idea, just not quite as mature yet.
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