
Simple Is Now Available To The Public, Cofounder Alex Payne Moves On - zaveri
http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/25/simple-is-now-available-to-the-public-cofounder-alex-payne-moves-on/
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kjhughes
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...](https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/simple-api)

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

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ubercore
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
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
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.

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

~~~
user49598
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.

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

~~~
CrazedGeek
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.)

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

~~~
Osiris
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
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
The answer I got was "to take pictures of checks you want to deposit" and "for
our partner bank to get your signature". I have an Android device, but my wife
has an iPhone so I answered iOS anyway, figuring I'd use her device. Turns
out, I haven't _actually_ needed an iOS device for anything I've done yet.

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poweratom
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!

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

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gulbrandr
Is Simple available outside of the United States?

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

