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I read the other GoBank story, but since it linked to the actual website, which IP-blocked me, I had no idea what they were actually about. So, thanks for this
by henrikschroder 14y ago
I read the other GoBank story, but since it linked to the actual website, which IP-blocked me, I had no idea what they were actually about. So, thanks for this one. :-)
That said, everything they offer I get at my current bank, which has been following the same strategy for over a decade now; almost no branch offices, a stellar internet bank, an even more stellar mobile app, and no weird fees at all. I pay ~$30 a year, and only because my debit card is a VISA card as well.
To me, it's hilarious to read about all the breathless Valley startups doing "amazing products" for personal finance that will "revolutionize" whatever. I haven't yet seen anything that my boring old bank doesn't already do. In addition to everything I listed above, all my purchases are automatically categorized, all my income and deposits are automatically categorized, and my bank automatically generates pretty Web2.0 pages and diagrams where I can slice and dice my personal finance as I wish, or export everything to Excel spreadsheets or whatever.
But then again, I'm not in the US, and my bank isn't a US bank, so to those living in the Valley bubble, the bank I'm using simply doesn't exist, and only the stuff made in the Valley is exciting and awesome, despite there being superior products made long ago, elsewhere.
Of course, there are also probably a lot of products that are outside of my spheres, which blow whatever solution I'm using completely out of the water, but I'm just blissfully unaware, because it's in some country I don't have dealings with or know anything about, but I sure wish some ideas would spread faster and wider than they do. :-/
- imjared 14y agoI've had a similar experience with Simple. The app is beautiful but it's really just another credit card. I love my bank and the features they provide (insurance, different types of credit cards, loans, etc.) are significantly better than what's really just a pretty iPhone app.
- encoderer 14y agoSame here. I have a simple account with the $100 opening deposit in it. It's a beautiful UI, but changing banks is an awful pain in the butt and I'm pretty happy, in general, with Bank of America. My wife and I have our personal and joint accounts there. I hardly ever use my debit card (nobody should! Debit cards are, in general, awful. Credit cards give you actual protection and far more perks). What I care about in my bank is that I can easily connect everything with my wife, that I can easily do bill pay, and that I have full-service ATMs and iPhone apps that include deposit features. But if I was 20 again and had far simpler banking needs, I think I'd use Simple. Oh, another thing is, when it comes time for a mortgage or other installment loan, it's sometimes beneficial to have my money at the same institution. If we decided to dump BofA I can see us moving to a credit union (Alliant is great, for example), but as Simple isn't a full-service bank I'd have to pass on it.
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- thinkcomp 14y agoIf you want to do something interesting in financial technology, you have to get away from the existing networks. Doing that requires 47+ money transmission licenses. Green Dot is an incumbent that has them. Generally speaking, startups do not and will not. https://www.facecash.com/legal/brown.html https://www.facecash.com/legal/brown.html
- qq66 14y agoThe big incumbents are all 100+ years old, but Green Dot was founded in 1999, so it's clearly possible to get from point A to point B.
- dsl 14y agoGreen Dot bought a failing commercial bank to sidestep all the hurdles. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111208006460/en/Green-Dot-Completes-Acquisition-Bonneville-Bank http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111208006460/en/Gree...
- toomuchtodo 14y agoBoth Simple and Google Wallet use The Bancorp Bank for their integration; perhaps its time for a bigger stake in the organization for Google. I'm serious. Google's data mining ability is unparalleled. Buy a bank, become Google Bank, and start lending. I believe Google's investment/risk analysis would be far superior to any existing bank out there.
- Firehed 14y agoIt's more of an issue that startups can not get those licenses - at least not early on. It's simply too expensive and too time-consuming - we're talking multiple millions of dollars over probably at least two years. Unsurprisingly, the people that hand them out (state governments) are a bit inflexible when it comes to presenting them with any business model less than fifty years old, although it's slowly improving in at least a few states.
- emeltzer 14y agoYeah, in the US Charles Schwab provides most of this stuff (they refund all ATM fees so you effectively can use whatever ATM you want, they have an app w/ check depositing, etc) and has for a long time. Don't really get it.
- saryant 14y agoI'm also with Schwab. The only thing I can think of is that they're trying to cash in on the anti-bank sentiment of the Reddit crowd the way Ally has. Their difference is branding, not substance.
- mey 14y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ally_Financial http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ally_Financial Ally is all about branding...
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- jjm 14y agoBut that is kind of the point. These startups scale from the get-go. They will want to reach outside of their initial markets soon. It is not just feature set, but forward scaling vision with that feature set. Most multi-national banks have a hard time with 'world-wide' scale and prefer to cordon off geo-markets behind local corps, going so far as to have separate C-level management. Imagine how hard it is to get financial level integration? In this day and age those layers, that lack of true inner-corp transparency, and integration is what will kill these 'traditional' enterprises.
- jarek 14y agoIt took forever to get Square or Stripe outside of the U.S., and they don't even store your money for long. I think you far underestimate difficulty of "scaling" banks across jurisdictional borders.
- Delenda 14y agoUS here, and my bank does all this too. Though, most of it has only been recent. Picture of a check to deposit, finance works thingies to make pretty graphs and sort my finances, atm refunds, etc. I get a bit excited that these folk have a MUCH more attractive website, but beyond that and maybe a pretty looking card, i just see no need to switch.
- tlrobinson 14y agoUSAA has been doing most of this stuff for long time too (ATM fee refunds, mobile deposit, etc)
- blhack 14y agoWhat on earth bank is this?
- henrikschroder 14y agohttp://skandiabanken.se http://skandiabanken.se