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I loved Simple for a long time -- I was one of the "beta" customers -- but I switched away from them over a year ago. I'd already been annoyed with them over so
by chipotle_coyote 6y ago
I loved Simple for a long time -- I was one of the "beta" customers -- but I switched away from them over a year ago. I'd already been annoyed with them over something seemingly trivial; I go by my middle name and last name, not first and last, and want my credit/debit card to match that, reading "Middle Last". Everyone else allows me to do this and Simple did allow that... until we all had to migrate our accounts from Simple's original "banking partner" to BBVA. At that point they changed my name and refused to change it back after multiple go-rounds (which ended with a rep telling me "sure, we can do this, just fill this out," filling said thing out, and being told "we can't do that").
As with some other mentions here, though, it was killing the ability to have Simple send checks to payees that did it for me. I'd been waiting for years to have Simple be able to accept ebills (e.g., receive a bill from a creditor that specifies an amount to pay and paying that, rather than just paying a fixed amount every period), and they never did; instead they regressed.
But here's the thing: while I'd left Bank of America because Simple's app and design was so much better, I'd never closed my BoA account for the simple (ha!) reason that they could accept ebills and pay them out of my Simple account. This always left me with the niggling feeling that while Simple was better at technology and customer service, BoA was better at... well... banking. And when I checked out BoA after getting fed up with Simple, well, their app was still ugly and had bad UX design, but the functionality had mostly caught up with Simple. It even has goals built into it, if I want them. (I don't, and never cared about Simple's equivalent, so I can't compare the functionality.)
And while there are "bank things" I only do once in a blue moon -- deposit at an ATM, get a cashier's check -- it turns out it's nice to have a bank that, well, does those things. I know there are other banks (and credit unions) that do them, too, and I'm not suggesting BoA is particularly good (or bad) in this regard.
Simple was a promising idea, but I think they made a serious mistake by letting themselves be bought out by BBVA. And while I'd love to see someone else try again, I'm going to be a lot more reticent to move to a new bank just because it gives me a terrific mobile app experience next time around. Simple was a great technology company, but at the end of the day, I just don't think they were that great a bank.
- minton 6y agoI can’t find any details on BoA having an equivalent feature to Simple’s Goal. Do you remember what it’s called?
- minton 6y agoNever mind, it’s called Goals. It’s not a good replacement for Simple since it doesn’t have the Safe-to-spend feature.
- chipotle_coyote 6y agoThere's a "Goals" section in my BoA app for my checking account which appears to let you set savings goals and target amounts. (I'll underline my "haven't tried it" disclaimer above, though! While I didn't use Simple's functionality for this, I recall it as being pretty well-designed, and design hasn't really been one of BoA's strengths...)
- lotsofpulp 6y agoAlso https://www.bankofamerica.com/online-banking/mobile-and-online-banking-features/spending-budgeting/ https://www.bankofamerica.com/online-banking/mobile-and-onli...
- kstrauser 6y agoI'm in the exact same boat about my name. I have literally gotten up and left a physical bank when they refused to issue my debit card under "Middle Last" instead of "First Last". There's usually some BS about "the law requires that...", which prompts me to stop them mid-sentence and show them my AmEx and Visa that are titled "Middle Last". No. Your setup may require me to go by an alias, but that's a quirk of your own shortsightedness and not a regulation.
- quesera 6y ago> being told "we can't do that" I've had similar experiences with other institutions. The explanation boiled down to KYC policies and some relationship to newer DHS Real ID regulations. So, what used to be allowed, is no longer. This might be true everywhere.
- chipotle_coyote 6y agoWhile I thought that might be the case, I got a credit card after this with my middle and last name. AFAIK, as long as the bank has both your true legal name on file and your preferred name on file, the card can be issued in your preferred name.
- hankthecat 6y agofor whatever reason different names on credit cards slip through the regulatory cracks but the name linked to a bank account will not. the AML/KYC process is more regulated. frankly i think you are being a bit unreasonable given it's not like you actually changed your first name.
- dougmany 6y agoSame here. When the mail-a-check feature went away I switched back to the credit union. I still had that open because I couldn't set up a feature with simple.
- spotman 6y agoYa same here. The name issues, the killing of the ability to auto mail paper checks (bills), and seemingly over time extremely strict policies on everything from deposits, to addresses, Simple has already been going down hill for awhile. Personally I have gone out of my way to submit polite and concise feedback, as I really wanted them to win. I used to be so happy here as a customer but inch by inch it had just become overwhelmingly unpleasant. So over the last year I have slowly moved most of my banking to a competitor, and which as a whole is bigger and does have as smooth of a UX, but has been flawless with actual banking features. The support has made me feel like they actually want my business rather than being a nuisance to them. It was good while it was good simple, I imagine running a bank is not easy, best of luck to everyone that was a part of it in their next venture.
- sizzle 6y agoThey made a $117 million exit when they sold to BBVA so maybe that was the time to jump ship cause they were no longer a start up and had to play by their new big bank owner's rules.