A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks
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Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks
#2This is the same company that had a service failure where you couldn't withdraw money from your account recently because their ATM cards wouldn't work and they have no bank branches. I don't think you want to be an early adopter.
Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks
#3What 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 all the charges were explained very clearly. I bank with Chase.
Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks
#4How is this better than a credit union?
Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks
#5What 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…
I suspect there may be a bit of sensationalism built into this article. That being said, their certainly are plenty of things with current banks to be less than pleased with, including a not so distant past when overdraft fees were not opt in, and even worse, were handled in a devious fashion. (I.E. applying charges to an account in order of the total amount spent as opposed to chronologically).
Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks
#6What 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 started getting fees for, e.g. using other ATMs. I'm sure they sent me something in regards to this, but who the hell actually reads legalese? Contrast that with simple. When the new year rolled in, they updated their terms and conditions with an email that explained its effects in plain english (in a manner reminiscent of Creative Commons licenses.)
2) Simple has ATMs everywhere since it's part of Allpoint.
3) 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.
4) 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. Simple has an unsullied history.
Say what you will, but I'm happy to give Simple my money given the experience thus far. And clearly others are too.
Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks
#7I 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 past. What? I've never had such problems, and I checked with my bank/etc. and they didn't find any problems either.
So they want me to get notarized copies of a bunch of documents- I go do that, which costs me $50+ in fees. I send the documents to them.
A week later, they contact me again- there's no way they can open an account for me, for undisclosed reasons, but I can call their support to learn more. OK, I call their support, and a (very nice) guy tells me that it has to do with me not being a US citizen and my SSN being different in some way (? I've been living here for almost 3 years now, working, being paid, opening bank accounts, etc. without ever having a problem). He apologizes, and that's it.
Of course my $50+ in notary fees are lost.
They've been more problematic to me in 2 weeks without even having an account than all of my banks that I've had accounts with for years combined.
So yeah, so much for "a financial service for people fed up with banks"
Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks
#8What 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…
I'm very particular about how I do my banking -- money in a mix of a huge corporate bank and a small, local credit union; both serve unique purposes for my needs.
By far, the customer service at the credit union is infinitely better than that of the large bank. I call customer service at the big bank with small issues or questions, and I'm extremely irritated by the time I'm even speaking with a real person after a terrible mix of phone mazes and hold music. My credit union is normally on the phone after 2-3 rings and almost immediately takes care of whatever I need.
I'd much prefer to move everything to the credit union, but I just have certain convenience needs that most bigger banks just handle better due to their larger infrastructure.
Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks
#9When you're dealing with your money you're adding a whole other layer of 'switching costs'. Maybe I'm at a point in my life where I care more about net income over getting into the nitty gritty of every transaction, but it's been painless using Chase in NYC, going to ATMs or using a credit card, and taking money in and out for online transactions. Is there a pain point I'm missing here or is this better suited to someone with kids, a mortgage, etc.?
Re: A Financial Service for People Fed Up With Banks
#10What 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…
Did Chase very clearly explain that they could, allegedly, shuffle your transactions into a fictitious sequence in order to maximize the amount of fees they could charge you?¹
My bank didn't tell me that in the event the Post Office became confused and stopped delivering my mail (commercial address, only gets the bank stuff), they would make no effort to contact me when the checks and statements started coming back. Though, when they forgot to transfer money into my new accounts they did agree to waive the penalties I had incurred, so that was sort of nice that they didn't pursue a fee which would have lost them a court case.
I think this sentence from the article sums up the motivation…
“Banks make money by keeping customers confused,” Mr. Reich said. “There’s no incentives to make the experience better.”
Your bank no doubt has dozens of different kinds of accounts with various byzantine rules applied to each. Is there a button on your online banking page that says "Recommend the optimum account plans for me."? They know your history, they pretty much know your future. They know their own plans. They have computers… what is stopping them?
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¹ http://www.topclassactions.com/open/2603-chase-overdraft-fee...