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I thought BankSimple was a great brand, because it tells you what it is and fits well with the current zeitgeist. What is "BankSimple?" A way to bank that's si
by cynicalkane 15y ago
I thought BankSimple was a great brand, because it tells you what it is and fits well with the current zeitgeist.
What is "BankSimple?" A way to bank that's simple. Sounds interesting! Everyone hates how complicated banking is, right? Let's go to the website to find out more.
What is "Simple?" Who knows. A website that has something to do with banking--or so I'm told--with yet another web 2.0 one-word "brand", a really uninspiring one too. Hey, I wonder what's on Reddit.
- gyardley 15y agoWhatever Simple is, I suspect it doesn't have to comply with every single state's regulations on exactly what can call itself a bank.
- schraeds 15y agoMint, Square, Ally. I think the naming convention fits other examples of successful startups in this space.
- chc 15y agoEh, Ally isn't just "Ally Inc," it's "Ally Financial," and it uses the term "Ally Bank" in advertising its banking services. And Mint doesn't do banking at all — they're purely an analytics service.
- gojomo 15y ago'Ally' is not a successful startup. Ally is the rebranded GMAC, whose founding dates back to 1919. GMAC was renamed (and officially transformed into a registered bank) as part of a series of changes which included receiving over $16 billion in federal bailout assistance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ally_Financial http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ally_Financial Though I suppose 'Ally' was a spectacular renaming, and their advertising is working, if it gives people the impression Ally is a can-do startup!
- samstave 15y agoAvoid GMAC (Ally now) like the plague. Rife with fraud internally (My mother used to work there and told some horrible stories of how they screwed over customers).
- rapind 15y agoColor...
- vaporstun 15y agoWhile I think this may be true at first, if they gain any critical mass, the "Bank" in BankSimple would become redundant and wasteful. I think it is good and forward looking to rebrand it Simple before launch so that becomes synonymous with banking. Imagine if Google was instead called GoogleSearch? Google became synonymous for Search and therefore the Search portion of their name is superfluous. I for one applaud this move and think the branding is nice, clean, and, of course, simple ;)
- evan_ 15y agoLike how the "bank" in "Bank of America" is redundant and wasteful? To clarify, I don't really care either way- I'm sure they had other reasons for dropping the "Bank" from their name, especially since they're not really a bank.
- tdoggette 15y agoWells Fargo and Suntrust are well-known banks, too.
- corin_ 15y agoOfficial name "SunTrust Bank", owned by "SunTrust Banks, Inc." Official name "Wells Fargo Bank, N.A." owned by "Wells Fargo & Company".
- chc 15y agoThat's precisely the point vaporstun was making — we commonly omit the "Bank" from those names because it's seen as redundant.
- corin_ 15y agoBut I was replying to tdoggette not vaporstun, who was making (I think) the opposite point. So my response was to point out that actually the banks we think of as not having "bank" in the name do, and it hasn't stopped us from referring to them without it. So if they stuck with Bank Simple, it would help people initially understand what they do, then once (if) they become a household name, people could refer to them as "Simple". Of course, this is all ignoring the whole legislation stuff.
- benatkin 15y ago> What is "Simple?" Shoes.
- stefs 15y agobut only shoes with velcro straps, binding bootlaces is complicated.
- al3x 15y agoThe "Bank" in "BankSimple" was problematic for us. We're technically not a bank. We also don't want to be associated with the way people have approached banking, particularly in the US. Sorry you're not crazy about the new name, but we're happy with it. It gives us a lot of room to grow.
- Umalu 15y agoThere are actually laws prohibiting non-banks from using the word "bank" in their name. A lot of bank holding companies (which are not, technically, banks) got around this by replacing the "k" in "bank" with a "c" -- such as "BancAmerica Corp". I'm sure we all breathed a sigh of regulatory relief seeing that "c" there.
- al3x 15y agoYup. Those laws are pretty loosely enforced and vary on a state-by-state basis, but they're definitely a concern.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- rapind 15y ago1-600-DOCTORB ("The B is for 'Bargain'")
- nickpinkston 15y agoThanks Dr. Nick!
- dman 15y agoIs avoiding regulation as simple as changing what you call yourself?
- steve918 15y agoIf the regulation governs naming, then yes.
- rapind 15y agoI preferred BankSimple too, but I guess having Bank in the name would present too many problems. Simple seems very generic, no offense guys.
- al3x 15y agoNone taken. "Simple" is a generic term, and it's up to us to build it into a strong brand over time.
- rapind 15y agoWhich I'm sure you will. Looks like a great idea and I look forward to the day you come to Canada. By the way, the on-page anchors in your footer aren't working atm (#features, #vision, #sign-up, etc.).
- firefoxman1 15y agoThis may be one of the few times I like the original name better than the one a company re-brands itself as. I wish companies could so something like a pretend re-brand and make a fake post on their blog, submit it to HN and then see what the feedback is before just jumping in. HN provides some of the best and most brutal feedback I've seen in a community that simply can't be replicated by a focus group or board meeting.
- kleiba 15y agoIn some regions of Germany, the noun "Simpel" means idiot (it still means "simple" as an adjective). Also note that the spelling is slightly different, but the pronunciation is pretty much the same. Just in case these guys ever want to reach around the globe...
- oemera 15y agoCan I who told you that? I'm German and I have never heard that "Simpel" as the German noun is associated with idiot or idiotic thinks. Simpel just means simple. Maybe it is not seen like the simpleness which American people try to express with the word but either it just means simple. I love to have more simpleness in Germany. Please do consider to expand to Germany or Europe!
- jamesbritt 15y agoSame in English; calling someone "simple" is short for "simple-minded" or "a simpleton". Don't hear it used much though, and it's unlikely to be the first thing that pops into someone's head.
- citizencain 15y agoYou have a cheesy nickname, so it doesn't count. An organization that handles money doesn't need to be experimental on the name. I think it needs to be more on the safe side. It's money after all.
- app7399 15y agoThat is akin to asking: "What is 'Apple'? A fruit company?"