Simple Is Now Available To The Public, Cofounder Alex Payne Moves On

Simple Is Now Available To The Public, Cofounder Alex Payne Moves On(techcrunch.com)

27 points by zaveri 13 years ago | 18 comments

kjhughes 13 years ago |

Title of post, "Simple Is Now Available To The Public," is misleading; per the Simple website: "Now available by invitation only." Maybe the fact that Simple has begun letting people in from their invite list was not flashy enough for the title.

A quick look around after receiving my invite (but before signing up) left me less enthused that I'd been when BankSimple was first getting started...

Simple appears to have bailed on building an actual bank and instead teamed up with The Bancorp Bank for customer deposits.

BankSimple's cool API plans? The Google group linked from their site has been inactive for over 18 months:

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/simple-ap...

Now their CTO leaves in the middle of launch? I'm not feeling as excited about Simple as I was originally.

ubercore 13 years ago |

I was very eagerly anticipating BankSimple, err, Simple, since it was announced. Problem was, the world caught up. I recently got my Simple account set up, and as a result decided that ING Direct + Mint offers me everything I need, and more (Joint Accounts, savings account, real checkbook, no overdraft penalties). Unfortunately, Simple feels like too little too late, and it doesn't seem that they delivered (yet) on some of the cooler things I was anticipating (API, Savings Goals, Mobile Support on more than just iPhone).

I hope they do well, as I think online banking needs something to shake it up, but first impressions are incredibly underwhelming.

jsmcallister 13 years ago | |

I use ING Direct + Mint as well for all banking. I was interested in Simple because it seemed to be the combination of the two - with a drive to improve both formats. However, I was disappointed on not being able to find any details on how their banking works. I'd love to track my finances from within my banking website, but not at the expense of interest rates and multiple/joint accounts. (Do they offer that?)

ubercore 13 years ago | | |

No Joint accounts yet. They are definitely planning on it, but there's no timeline at the moment. In addition, there's no way (that I've found at least) to separate out buckets for saving towards goals, which is also a pretty big deal for me.

deepGem 13 years ago |

Co-founder stepping down soon after a public launch is bad news.

user49598 13 years ago | |

We are all skeptical too, but really it could be any number of things and he stated that he wanted to do more programming and less CTOing.

shalmanese 13 years ago |

The simple website still says it's invite only. I've been on the waiting list since December and haven't heard anything.

CrazedGeek 13 years ago | |

They're definitely working through the list: I was on the waiting list since August/September and I just got an invite last week. (Received my debit card in the mail yesterday, too.)

Sidnicious 13 years ago | |

FWIW, I just got an invite and I signed up in December 2010.

akane 13 years ago |

(on the waiting list for over a year) I wish I hadn't found out that it's now public from TC

Osiris 13 years ago | |

I just got the email to join them today but when I went to sign up they won't let you unless you have an iOS device. If you select Android it states that you have to wait until they release an Android version. Disappointing.

dasil003 13 years ago | | |

Really? I understand they can only target one mobile platform in the beginning, they don't want to spread themselves too thin, but why is a mobile device a requirement?

ubercore 13 years ago | | |

Indeed. That should have been communicated more clearly.

poweratom 13 years ago |

It's probably worth the way. It takes time to work out the intricate details of transactions and UX. I, for one, am excited about this. and I look forward to finally ditching my bank of 10 years!

bnastic 13 years ago |

What a terrible article, terribly written. "We all hate our banks", said in a casual tone, makes for some great reporting.

gulbrandr 13 years ago |

Is Simple available outside of the United States?

cjrp 13 years ago |

Now if they could just launch in the UK too...