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People said a lot of similar things before the iPhone launched. I agree that this is just incremental improvement that actually already exists some places, but

by grinich 14y ago

People said a lot of similar things before the iPhone launched. I agree that this is just incremental improvement that actually already exists some places, but it seems like Simple is the first "bank" that deeply understands both software and the importance of user experience. (And perhaps also platforms, which could be incredible in banking/finance.) That's pretty unique. And it's taken them a remarkably short time to catch-up to current banks. Personal finance is definitely a schlep industry. Simple is going to compete on experience, not features. This has worked time and time again for lots of product companies, so it will be interesting to see if it works in banking.

spking 14y ago
As I mentioned downthread, it is incredibly tough to do good UX design inside of a traditional bank. I actually gave a talk on this recently for World Usability Day. You have regulatory and compliance issues, a patchwork of legacy systems and a huge array of 3rd party vendors to contend with. It's not that banks don't understand the importance of UX; it's just a very difficult environment to actually deliver it. Simple did a great job abstracting most of that by partnering with a bank instead of actually being one.
i2pi 14y ago
Hi - Josh here, co-founder at Simple. You've nailed it. We can't outcompete banks with gimmicks. We can't afford to lure people in with teaser rates or rewards programs that look great in an ad, but never work as well in reality. Instead, we're competing on experience. Crafting that experience, especially given the cruft of banking, is a schlep. And its a huge competitive advantage for us. To the grandparent poster, yes, switching banks is hard, but $30bn of revenue switches retail banks each year because of negative experiences. Thats a tiny amount for the top 4 banks, but a large market for a startup. If you can deal with the schlep.

by grinich 14y ago

spking 14y ago

As I mentioned downthread, it is incredibly tough to do good UX design inside of a traditional bank. I actually gave a talk on this recently for World Usability Day. You have regulatory and compliance issues, a patchwork of legacy systems and a huge array of 3rd party vendors to contend with. It's not that banks don't understand the importance of UX; it's just a very difficult environment to actually deliver it. Simple did a great job abstracting most of that by partnering with a bank instead of actually being one.

i2pi 14y ago

Hi - Josh here, co-founder at Simple. You've nailed it. We can't outcompete banks with gimmicks. We can't afford to lure people in with teaser rates or rewards programs that look great in an ad, but never work as well in reality. Instead, we're competing on experience. Crafting that experience, especially given the cruft of banking, is a schlep. And its a huge competitive advantage for us. To the grandparent poster, yes, switching banks is hard, but $30bn of revenue switches retail banks each year because of negative experiences. Thats a tiny amount for the top 4 banks, but a large market for a startup. If you can deal with the schlep.