al3x

8 ms·

31.
by al3x 15y ago
Hi, cofounder of Simple here. You call us if you have a problem or question. We'll let you know what bank your funds reside at, but you should never need to contact them. We have our own in-house customer relations staff.
32.
by al3x 15y ago
What questions would you like us to answer, or where do you think we can be more specific? We're always trying to improve the way we explain what we do, so we're open to suggestions :)
33.
by al3x 15y ago
We're planning on doing smartphone check deposit. We have a huge fee-free ATM network, but you're right, we don't reimburse all ATM fees. Thing is, most banks that do reimburse all ATM fees are either making that money back by charging acco
34.
by al3x 15y ago
Sorry that you think the name is "weak" and "generic", but I'm glad that you get what we're doing. "Simple" is definitely a generic term, but brands are built over time. Personally, I love our new logo (by our own @3n), and I think it'll re
35.
by al3x 15y ago
Answering etherealG's question here because I can't reply to him below: Yes, you'll know what institution your funds are at. When you get your Simple card, it'll say "issued by {Bank Name}" on the back.
36.
by al3x 15y ago
Yup. Those laws are pretty loosely enforced and vary on a state-by-state basis, but they're definitely a concern.
37.
by al3x 15y ago
Hi, cofounder of Simple here. It's extremely unlikely that we'd ever partner with an institution like BofA. We chose bank partners who are comfortable with our vision, and that includes not charging outrageous fees and engaging in other cus
38.
by al3x 15y ago
Hi, cofounder of Simple here. We're focused on banking right now, but one of the things we like about the Simple name is that it gives us room to grow. Another thing the new name gets us is freedom from both legal issues around the term "ba
39.
by al3x 15y ago
Hi, cofounder of Simple here. It wasn't a cheap domain, but our investors felt it was worth the expense. It's memorable, flexible, and to-the-point. We're generally not a profligate company, but we felt strongly about this.
40.
by al3x 15y ago
That was a concern, but not the sole reason for our rebranding.
41.
by al3x 15y ago
Hi, cofounder of Simple here. We had a "team" page on our previous site (under the BankSimple name). We plan on revising and reviving that page, it just didn't make the cut for our updated site for the Simple rebranding. I like knowing who'
42.
by al3x 15y ago
Hi, cofounder of Simple here. From a regulatory perspective, we're a lot like a prepaid card. It's a well-known model that banking authorities, legal experts, and the government is comfortable with. You probably already use financial produc
43.
by al3x 15y ago
Thanks for getting it :)
44.
by al3x 15y ago
The "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 h
45.
by al3x 15y ago
Hi, cofounder of Simple here. We work with partner banks who hold on to deposits. For all intents and purposes, you never have to think about who that partner bank is, but if you ever need to contact them directly, you'll know where your fu
46.
by al3x 15y ago
Can't answer the second question, but we haven't gotten very frequent updates. I'm hoping that will change with the transition to Enterprise, but GitHub:FI lagged behind "public" GitHub pretty badly.
47.
by al3x 15y ago
(I'm a co-founder of BankSimple.) A lot of the banks mark up their wire transfer fees. We won't. Domestic US transfers with us (ACH) will be free. International transfers (SWIFT) cost us ~$15, and we'll pass that on to our customers with no
48.
by al3x 15y ago
We're not doing the consolidation/aggregation thing. Mint does, of course. But we can't do a lot of what we want to do with the sort of low-fidelity, read-only data access that a service like Mint has. We're subject to the same security req
49.
by al3x 15y ago
That's exactly what we're doing. If you tell us about your savings goals, you can then "lock" the goals that you really don't want to dip into if you're overspending. We'll prevent transactions from going through, in that case. We keep you
50.
by al3x 15y ago
(I'm a co-founder of BankSimple.) Our easily-searchable transaction list is just one feature. That feature alone wouldn't make it work switching. What we're doing is holistic: it's about taking every part of the banking experience, from tec
51.
by al3x 15y ago
(I'm a co-founder of BankSimple.) So, what you're talking about to the best of my understanding is the kind of billing systems that are popular outside of America but pretty underused here. Our CEO and CFO are both from outside the US, and
52.
by al3x 15y ago
(I'm a co-founder of BankSimple.) Once you tell our service about your savings goals, we're able to tell you what you can _safely_ spend. That means not dipping into the savings that you should be building, or putting yourself in a situatio
53.
by al3x 15y ago
I'm kind of a foodie, and our project manager is definitely a foodie. He runs this site that lists some great places to eat and drink if you're only in a city for a couple days. Here are his picks for Portland: http://noms.in/portland I
54.
by al3x 15y ago
Even though I guess I'm supposed to be the one sticking up for Portland in these comments, I have to agree with this. I don't think Portland or any other city is likely to be the next Silicon Valley. I also don't think that's a bad thing fo
55.
by al3x 15y ago
We asked our employees here, and even the ones who live on the East Side enjoy working in the Pearl. Plus, we like that there are other startups in this neighborhood, PIE (the incubator), etc. etc.
56.
by al3x 15y ago
Cute. But, actually, if my co-founders had decided to move the company to another city entirely, I would have happily moved. Portland happens to be a good fit for what we're doing, particular from a customer service hiring perspective.
57.
by al3x 15y ago
You got it.
58.
by al3x 15y ago
We don't have to relocate "literally everyone" in the company. We have myself (one of the co-founders), three engineers, and a project manager here in Portland already. A couple of other people planned on moving for personal reasons in the
59.
by al3x 15y ago
We're not a bank, but we view our customers as being the people who would use traditional banks. We partner with banks, and those banks are located around the country. That said, our processing technology partner, TxVia, is located in NYC,
60.
by al3x 15y ago
Nope.

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