Simple Blog
simple.com · Company blog · on HN since 2011
The blog of Simple, a US online bank that launched as BankSimple, with product announcements for apps, goals and analytics.
What HN saysHN links Simple mostly when people ask for banking recommendations; commenters praise its clean interface, no fees, goals feature and support, though it is US-only.
119HN people shared it
79linked it in comments
67stories submitted
792story points
6 years agolast shared
2011people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1BankSimple invites first customers; rebrands itself as Simple48 people · 16 points · first shared 2011 · 2 comments on HN
- 2Faq9 people · first shared 2011
- 3Building Analytics at Simple5 people · 15 points · first shared 2015 · 6 comments on HN
- 4Careers4 people · first shared 2012
- 5Simple -- Announcing Goals3 people · 27 points · first shared 2012 · 21 comments on HN
- 6Simple Launches Android App3 people · 8 points · first shared 2013 · discussion on HN
- 7The Next Chapter2 people · 78 points · first shared 2014 · 30 comments on HN
- 8Announcing The Simple iPhone App2 people · 56 points · first shared 2012 · 40 comments on HN
- 9Announcing Photo Check Deposit2 people · 34 points · first shared 2012 · 63 comments on HN
- 10Infrastructure as Code2 people · 12 points · first shared 2014 · discussion on HN
- 11Tipping in America: How Does Your State Stack Up?2 people · 6 points · first shared 2013 · 3 comments on HN
- 12Our Infinite <table>2 people · 5 points · first shared 2013 · discussion on HN
- 13Simple Is Closing2 people · 5 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 14Simple releases reports to help you track and graph your data2 people · 4 points · first shared 2012 · discussion on HN
- 15How Do I Transfer Funds to Simple?2 people · 2 points · first shared 2013 · discussion on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
kfriede · 2019-03-22
I've used Simple https://www.simple.com/ as my primary checking for years and love it. I create "Goals" as buffer money pockets for things like "Savings", "Investment", and "Credit Card Buffer", and then use their expenses feature to automatically deduct certain bill amounts every payday. Their features are open enough to where you should be able to flex it to your needs. For example the "Goals" also has an auto-fill, but I just use them manually since I don't usually have a set amount I'm trying to save, just a certain percent per payday.
bernardino · 2017-02-24
Is Monzo only for those based in the United Kingdom?
If so, for those based in the states, you ought to check out Simple (https://www.simple.com) - it's great, it has a clean user interface, there are no fees, and the customer support team is top notch.
I assume it's the same thing (Simple and Monzo). Anyone know of any major differences between them?
fossuser · 2016-07-13
Simple does it: https://www.simple.com/
It's a bit of a hassle to switch since you need to set up direct deposit and wire your money over from your existing bank. Once you've done this though if you use the debit card for purchases everything is tracked with nice graphs and decent software.
Downsides:
- No branches, it's a bit of a pain to get a cashier's check on short notice.
- Can't use rewards credit card if you want to actually take advantage of it.
I find the automated data collection and graphs is worth the 2% 'cost' of not using a rewards credit card.
cocoflunchy · 2015-06-25
This sounds like http://simple.com for the UK. The bit that worried me was
we plan to make all the money we need from fair and transparent overdraft charges
... which means they have a strong incentive to have their customers overdraft.
Simple's model feels more sustainable:
Although we love technology, we don’t knock tradition. In the past, banks
made most of their profits off interest margin—the difference between the
amount of interest they make on loans, and the interest they pay customers
on their deposits. Our partner bank splits this interest margin with Simple.
When you swipe your debit card, the merchant pays a service fee
(called interchange) to the issuing bank. Our partners split this
revenue with us.
scrollaway · 2015-05-20
I've heard good and bad things about both of them. I've been looking for a better international alternative, though.
Simple bank looks absolutely amazing (https://www.simple.com/), but sadly they are US-only. Does anyone know a similar bank to Simple that is friendlier to international travelers/EU citizens?
clauretano · 2013-12-20
Very inconvenient. I wish more banks had the feature of Simple[1][2] where from the mobile app, you can lock and unlock your card at will. They emailed customers proactively regarding the Target breach and suggested that if you are really worried, you can leave your card in a locked state and then unlock it only when you need to swipe it.
Since they by default send a push notification on every transaction, it'd be overkill as long as you respond quickly in the even of an unauthorized one.
[1]http://www.simple.com
[2]simple is fantastic for a whole host of reasons. Check them out. I'm not affiliated in any way, but have been using them as my primary bank since early on in their beta.
toomuchtodo · 2013-12-09
> but what differentiates citi/bofa/wellsfargo/bancorp etc? Not much that I can see -- unless you're a high net worth individual, there's little reason for most people who don't eg have international banking issues to bother with them.
I actually switched from a big bank (PNC, great service but slow on the tech side to evolve) to Simple [http://www.simple.com]. I get a debit card, beautiful mobile and web apps, and I can do everything I could with a regular bank except going to a branch. And I never go to a branch (mobile deposit, ATM network, debit card, done).
Their support is excellent as well, something I'd never get from Amazon or Google.
tadfisher · 2013-08-26
On the other hand, the big banks are creating a market opportunity for retail banking services that do not profit from fees. I chose to work at Simple [1] in part because I believe competition in this space will improve the industry as a whole.
The best weapon against predatory banking is giving customers the tools to understand their own finances. Because fees comprise an ever-growing portion of profits, it is not in the big banks' interest to provide these tools, thus they will always be a poorer experience than the services that do.
[1] https://simple.com
KRoP · 2012-12-20
Simple (BankSimple)[1] has a blog post describing this situation and some of the potential problems.[2] Worth reading.
[1] https://simple.com/
[2] https://simple.com/blog/Banking/mobile-payments/
jacobwg · 2012-04-24
This looks like a very nice service and looks to be well designed - I'm not a designer myself, but if I was, I would probably use this.
I do have one comment: the spinning background on the homepage is giving me this weird vertigo effect that makes it really difficult to read any of the text on the page. Perhaps instead of animating the background you could make it static or perhaps make it static but with random placement (something like what Simple[1] does on its homepage background).
Other than that, great job!
[1] https://www.simple.com/
jrom · 2012-01-02
Maybe https://simple.com/ is the best chance to start pushing the banks to improve their online interfaces.
_qcti · 2021-01-07
I just received the above email from Azlo, as well as a very similar email from https://www.simple.com/
Both companies are owned by BBVA USA. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more banks shuttering under BBVA.
iamatworknow · 2019-08-06
Banks already exist in the US that do similar things, like Simple (https://www.simple.com/) and Chime (https://www.chimebank.com/), among others.
ceejayoz · 2019-02-18
I can't recommend Simple enough. Been banking with them for years and it's been wonderful.
https://www.simple.com/policies/bbva-compass-truth-in-savings-disclosu…
> ATM and everyday debit card transactions that would cause an overdraft may be declined at no cost to you.
plttn · 2019-02-08
Simple (https://www.simple.com/) might be the closest to this in the US.
It doesn't have no fee foreign exchanges, no rounding up, but does basically everything else there.
meow81 · 2018-12-13
> Simple tried to reinvent banking, but they never seemed to go beyond polishing the UI.
I'd take another look at Simple. I've been with them since the beginning and their recent enhancements are fantastic! Expenses tied to your pay schedule that automatically set money aside, same with goals. and then the big one for me was an interest bearing savings account, yielding 2%.
See more here:
https://www.simple.com/2percent
https://www.simple.com/features/expenses
ericcholis · 2018-04-20
Simple[1] is pretty close. Create "Goals" for any amount and time period, Save $X by Y Date . Simple automatically allocates money to your Goals from your Available Balance daily, every friday, or any other schedule. They show you a "Safe to Spend" balance which is your Available Balance minus your total Goals. You can associate a Goal with a spending category, say Groceries, and have all transactions marked Groceries come out of the Goal rather than your Safe to Spend balance.
1) http://www.simple.com
koolba · 2017-02-14
> Symple is Venmo for business payments.
This seems a close enough industry as Simple to be confusing: https://www.simple.com/
cs702 · 2016-09-18
The very smart, very shrewd, hard-working folks at Simple tried building a new kind of bank... and found out that the business of banking is FAR more complicated than it seems. Ultimately, Simple decided it would be best to sell to a giant established bank, BBVA (USD 800 billion in assets):
https://www.simple.com/company/the-next-chapter
The OP is a short ambitious document written by two guys who think they can do better. They think they can build a new kind of "bank for tourists." So far, they have a landing page and a mobile app: https://www.wrinq.com/ ...They will need a lot of luck.
arawde · 2016-03-31
It's a bank startup which doesn't have physical locations. They're partnered with Bancorp, so your account is backed by FDIC, and they have a large number of ATMs. You can read more here https://www.simple.com/
nly · 2016-03-04
Also
https://www.simple.com/
http://starlingbank.co.uk/
https://www.ffrees.co.uk/
https://www.monese.com/
Not to mention a few of the big boys have "Internet only" brands: First Direct (HSBC), Smile (Co-operative Bank), etc. These typically have their own customer service and distance themselves from their parent operationally, while still leaning on that reputation.
One thing that concerns me about investing in Mondo is that their only fruitful exit strategy might be being bought out. People are notoriously relunctant to switch current accounts, and a bad decade for public faith in banks might mean people will likely stick with names they know.
They're also at least a year from launch afaict, and Android doesn't seem to be a priority. They could miss the boat.
simonswords82 · 2016-02-15
There was a similar offering in the US called https://www.simple.com/. Looking at their blog it seems that they launched back in 2010?
I wonder how they're getting on? Anybody got any metrics?
juecd · 2016-02-11
I'm using https://www.simple.com/, which is a debit card but really a PFM (personal finance manager). I have a ton of goals set up with automatic daily "savings" that move a small amount of money into my goals (ranging from "haircut next month" to "Portland trip"), and Simple calculates how much to move each day based on the amount I need and target date the money's needed. Pretty granular, and I feel pretty in control without any spreadsheets or charts.
thrownaway2424 · 2016-01-02
Does it have to be SMS? My Simple card notifies me every time the card is used. https://www.simple.com/
nodesocket · 2015-11-29
Interesting video and concepts with Datomic, but a few questions.
* Why did Nubank decide to attack the Brazil market instead of US? There have been attempts here in the US; Simple (https://www.simple.com), Standard Treasury (http://standardtreasury.com/), Final (https://getfinal.com/), and Coin (https://onlycoin.com/).
* Isn't reinventing the engineering wheel; in terms of Datomic and a not popular language like Clojure a potential huge distraction to the ultimate goal of building a bank? The problem space is big and hard enough without rolling/maintaining/testing your own database engine and obscure language framework.
ende · 2015-04-22
I think we're getting close. I'm really hopeful that someone like Simple (https://www.simple.com) will eventually release an API for their service.
reustle · 2014-12-22
Isn't that what Simple advertised themselves as? http://simple.com
gregoire · 2014-07-22
Simple's logo has been designed with "responsiveness" in mind: the more space they have, the more complex their logo is.
For example on https://www.simple.com/, the logo in the header is simpler that the logo on the credit card.
They also show the 3 versions they use in a blogpost: https://www.simple.com/blog/simple-branding
hopefulwebdev · 2014-03-23
Luckily there are some new kids on the block that (say they) won't ever rent-seek with fees. https://www.simple.com/ is one I know of.
thinkcomp · 2014-02-20
Sure sounds like it started that way.
"Four and a half years ago I sent an email to my future co-founder Shamir with the subject “Let’s start a retail bank.” Over the following weeks, Simple was born."
https://www.simple.com/blog/the-next-chapter/