9 ms·

Hi Max, I understand where you're coming from. The simplest answer is: if you don't want to bank with us, then don't. We don't imagine that we'll replace ever

by al3x 16y ago

Hi Max, I understand where you're coming from. The simplest answer is: if you don't want to bank with us, then don't. We don't imagine that we'll replace every bank ever. There are plenty of traditional banks that may be going bust left and right, but hey, you're free to do business with them. A more complicated answer is that BankSimple will have the backing of established, traditional financial entities who are fully FDIC insured from the get-go, so the risk to you as a customer is quite low. There's no such thing as banking without risk, but I understand why you feel drawn to more traditional financial institutions. They certainly do a good job of marketing themselves as stable and dependable.

sanswork 16y ago
This is a horrible response that doesn't exactly help you build trust or market your new banking product. It starts with a disingenuous comment and it barely addresses the most basic of concerns(FDIC) and does so in a snarky and somewhat rude manner. I would think you would have learned how to handle criticism and concern for a product of yours a lot better than this working at Twitter.
- hoggle 16y ago
  I read it as trying to be honest which in my book is always a good basis for a potential paradigm shift. Financial world desperately needs to be fixed anyhow - I am happy to hear about folks who accept that challenge.
- luckystrike 16y ago
  IMO, the response was right on the money (no pun intended). My first thought when I read maxklein's comment was that he is perhaps saying it half in jest. But in case he was serious, I don't think one can just deride a person/organization based on stereotypes. (Hey you programmer of some web application, what do you know about banking, where's your suit and your MBA, you'll do a shoddy job for sure ... etc) Let's see what they come up with and critique/praise them on what they actually do, rather than carrying prejudices.
  - sanswork 16y ago
    Being sarcastic or dismissive of concerns isn't the way to deal with that type of criticism which was my point. Not that maxkleins criticism was valid or well based that said however, saying "yeah look how the existing banks" have done doesn't tell us anything about how you plan to better that and doesn't really say much at all since for the most part and most of the time the traditional banks do really well. He didn't actually give any information on what their plan entails that would remove doubts. They've said their money comes from two places loans and cuts from credit card fees. While what if they have a bad run with their loans/investments(like big banker banks) or not enough people use there credit cards? That makes them just as vulnerable as the existing banks so saying existing banks don't work doesn't tell us why you will.
    - dzlobin 16y ago
      I'm quite certain they aren't doing traditional loans/investments
      - sanswork 16y ago
        Do you work for them or have insider knowledge of what they intend to invest in? You've mentioned this a few times but I've yet to see a response. If you do than what is it they plan to invest in/what kind of loans are they going to be offering to make up for the interest they will be paying out?
    - luckystrike 16y ago
      I take your point that Alex's tone was sarcastic and may be he could have avoided it. But, hey if someone dismissed me as being less dependable etc, just because I am a programmer (or anything else for that matter), I might also lose my politeness for a minute. Yeah, I would also be eager to see more information on their plans. I hope they would start talking more about them on their blog. I am sure they could get some good inputs if they can get a good community going. (It could be one place where his programming/OSS experience might come in handy.)
  - dagw 16y ago
mdg 16y ago
> ... so the risk to you as a customer ... If you are trying to differentiate yourself from other banks, I would stop referring to your users as "customers". CUs call them "members". I have always preferred "comrades".
ErrantX 16y ago
> so the risk to you as a customer is quite low. That's highly worrying. My understanding is that FDIC is a guarantee of last resort - i.e. a guarantee that ultimately a customer cannot lose his/her money. i.e. there is no risk. So are you saying there is no risk - or that there is some added risk to banking with yourself? I'm confused.

by al3x 16y ago

sanswork 16y ago

This is a horrible response that doesn't exactly help you build trust or market your new banking product. It starts with a disingenuous comment and it barely addresses the most basic of concerns(FDIC) and does so in a snarky and somewhat rude manner. I would think you would have learned how to handle criticism and concern for a product of yours a lot better than this working at Twitter.

hoggle 16y ago
I read it as trying to be honest which in my book is always a good basis for a potential paradigm shift. Financial world desperately needs to be fixed anyhow - I am happy to hear about folks who accept that challenge.
luckystrike 16y ago
IMO, the response was right on the money (no pun intended). My first thought when I read maxklein's comment was that he is perhaps saying it half in jest. But in case he was serious, I don't think one can just deride a person/organization based on stereotypes. (Hey you programmer of some web application, what do you know about banking, where's your suit and your MBA, you'll do a shoddy job for sure ... etc) Let's see what they come up with and critique/praise them on what they actually do, rather than carrying prejudices.
- sanswork 16y ago
  Being sarcastic or dismissive of concerns isn't the way to deal with that type of criticism which was my point. Not that maxkleins criticism was valid or well based that said however, saying "yeah look how the existing banks" have done doesn't tell us anything about how you plan to better that and doesn't really say much at all since for the most part and most of the time the traditional banks do really well. He didn't actually give any information on what their plan entails that would remove doubts. They've said their money comes from two places loans and cuts from credit card fees. While what if they have a bad run with their loans/investments(like big banker banks) or not enough people use there credit cards? That makes them just as vulnerable as the existing banks so saying existing banks don't work doesn't tell us why you will.
  - dzlobin 16y ago
    I'm quite certain they aren't doing traditional loans/investments
    - sanswork 16y ago
      Do you work for them or have insider knowledge of what they intend to invest in? You've mentioned this a few times but I've yet to see a response. If you do than what is it they plan to invest in/what kind of loans are they going to be offering to make up for the interest they will be paying out?
  - luckystrike 16y ago
    I take your point that Alex's tone was sarcastic and may be he could have avoided it. But, hey if someone dismissed me as being less dependable etc, just because I am a programmer (or anything else for that matter), I might also lose my politeness for a minute. Yeah, I would also be eager to see more information on their plans. I hope they would start talking more about them on their blog. I am sure they could get some good inputs if they can get a good community going. (It could be one place where his programming/OSS experience might come in handy.)
- dagw 16y ago

mdg 16y ago

> ... so the risk to you as a customer ... If you are trying to differentiate yourself from other banks, I would stop referring to your users as "customers". CUs call them "members". I have always preferred "comrades".

ErrantX 16y ago

> so the risk to you as a customer is quite low. That's highly worrying. My understanding is that FDIC is a guarantee of last resort - i.e. a guarantee that ultimately a customer cannot lose his/her money. i.e. there is no risk. So are you saying there is no risk - or that there is some added risk to banking with yourself? I'm confused.