

Announcing Photo Check Deposit - jacobwg
https://www.simple.com/blog/Simple/announcing-photo-check-deposit/

======
akmiller
I currently use Simple for my discretionary spending account. I really love
the interface. However, if they are serious about converting people to use it
as their main bank then their entire focus should be on allowing multiple
people on one account. I can't add my wife to my account means this can't be
my primary bank. It's that Simple!

...oh and after that, please create a mobile site that allows me to login from
any device. I despise having to use my wife's iPhone to check my balance!

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spking
I've worked in the banking industry for five years. I've watched dozens of
focus groups and seen countless quantitative research projects that mostly all
indicate how extremely difficult it is to get people to leave their current
bank. Even cash incentives ($100 to open a new Chase checking account, etc)
don't seem to move the needle very much in terms of attracting people to
switch. The reason features like Bill Pay are free to users--and actually cost
banks $1+ per user/mo--is because it will make your relationship with a bank
that much stickier and difficult to change. Photo check deposit only brings
Simple to feature parity with other banks, almost all of which are using the
same provider (Mitek or similar). This isn't to say Simple can't do really
well attracting new customers; I just don't think they will be effective even
in the medium term at convincing people with an existing banking relationship
to completely leave their bank for Simple.

~~~
niallsmart
I currently bank with Wells Fargo, and am gradually making the switch over to
Simple. Couple reasons why:

– like most banks, WF have a ludicrously outdated web interface that makes
doing the simplest thing inordinately painful.

– like most banks, WF suck at providing a complete historical transaction
history and search. Case in point – a couple weeks ago I wanted to query a
transaction on an older account, after checking online and being transferred
between at least four different customer service agents in different
divisions, I was none the wiser. The best they could do was offer to send me
printed statements, at a $100 cost.

\- like most banks, WF make obscene profits while engaging in shady practices
- e.g., trying to upsell me every single time I call them, mailing me an offer
for a "free" credit score service (that, if you read the small print, is
actually a subscription) and not least discriminatory lending practices (c.f.,
recent settlement with Justice Dept)

Bottom line, they don't deserve my business.

~~~
spking
All of your reasons are common complaints, and I share them (with the
exception of USAA). I work at such a bank, and can tell you from painful
firsthand experience how difficult it is to do good UX design work inside of a
traditional banking environment. I think Simple had the right idea to
essentially decouple the "backend banking" stuff from the UX by partnering
with a bank and somewhat removing many of the constraints a full-on bank has
to wrangle with.

What's interesting though is that despite these complaints, consumers
generally are averse to switching their banks.

~~~
niallsmart
I've worked at a bank for several years, and agree 100%. It's basically
impossible for them to pull off something like Simple.

So the question is – how valid is that research given consumers haven't had a
real alternative?

Now that we're (finally) moving away from paper payments, seems to me that
it's a bad idea to bank on consumer complacency. Either way, I'm just happy
that there's a decent alternative.

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perishabledave
A bit off topic, but the one thing that is stopping me from using Simple is
the lack of paper checks. I know you can send checks directly to recipients,
but there are too many instances where I need to write a check and hand it to
the recipient directly.

~~~
smackfu
> I know you can send checks directly to recipients,

I wonder if these are "real" checks against your account, or just checks
against some single account that Simple owns. Because if they are real checks,
it would be simple enough to get your own checks printed up with the routing
info.

~~~
Terretta
Real, and yes, you have a real ABA and routing number and can print your own.

~~~
Domenic_S
Just in case someone was thinking of doing this, Josh from Simple said: _if
someone produced checks with one of our customer's account numbers, our
systems are set up to reject them._

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4844641>

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BryanB55
I have a Simple account but haven't moved any money to it yet. I'm not really
sure why I'm hesitant. At first I was definitely going to do it if they came
out with the electronic check deposit before Bank of America (which took BOA
FOREVER to do).

But I use Mint and BOA and am having a hard time seeing any other major
benefits except for a nice UI and better customer service. However, I've
probably only contacted BOA's customer service maybe 2 times in the last 5
years.

No paper checks seem to be another pain point to get over

~~~
jordo37
I also have a Simple account and have yet to really use it. I use ING for my
main account and love it (waiting to see what the shift to Capital One does).
Before this, they were at a serious detriment to every other bank I have used.

I love the ideas, but it seems to me like this is a classic example of needing
to be 10x better to convince even folks like HN readers that this is a useful
change to make.

All this being said, after a few weeks of not using the card and not setting
up direct deposit, I got a FANTASTIC email asking me to come back and use it -
great job engaging inactive users.

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steve8918
The reason why I hate features like this is because it now puts the onus on
customers to detect fraud, not the banks. If my understanding is correct, you
have 60 days to reverse any fraudulent checks on your account. If you're
someone like me that doesn't look into their bank account too closely (because
you don't spend a lot), then you could be the victim of fraud very easily. And
in the age of Photoshop, you can make a very convincing check image very
easily.

~~~
i2pi
(Josh from Simple here)

Not sure if I quite follow.

We don't let our customers write checks directly. They can send checks from
our apps, but they don't get a checkbook. Even if someone produced checks with
one of our customer's account numbers, our systems are set up to reject them.

We are working on a way to let our customers write their own checks, but we're
taking our time on this feature as we want to shut down that fraud path with a
special type of check. More details to come in the future.

The feature we released today is for check deposit. Yes, you could suffer if
someone gave you a fraudulent check, but the risk is no different than
depositing that same check at a teller.

~~~
Terretta
As a customer it's interesting to learn that you would reject "custom" checks
since your app shows me the routing number and I can use that (and have used
that) to do EFT which asks for the number off the bottom of a check. You make
it look like a check, and it works like the number off a check, but a third
party printed check using that same number wouldn't work? Good to know.

~~~
smackfu
They are probably just whitelisting the check numbers that they write, and
then rejecting any other check numbers.

------
B-Con
I wonder how much longer until the established banks adopt similar ideas.

From looking at (but not using) Simple, it doesn't seem like they have any
technical advantages, they were just able to start fresh without the
bureaucracy bloat that current banks have and focus on modern convenience.

~~~
ceejayoz
A number already have. Citibank and USAA have offered this for a while, in
fact.

~~~
lnanek2
Chase as well. I've been using Citibank and Chase deposit by picture from
their mobile apps for a long time.

This is pretty trivial from a technology point of view. The only real
difference I've noticed in implementations is the size of the check they allow
you to deposit. With Chase I can put in a $1k check I get often, Citibank
doesn't allow that, although it has come in handy for the occasional $20 or
$50 checks that pop up.

------
EGF
I had signed up some time ago and forgot that my invite showed up this past
July. Upon going through the process of creating an account, the final step
was to deposit $200-$500 into the account.

I understand the need to get funds, but with the time energy and passion
devoted towards the ease of use of the form and the comprehensive FAQ I could
not find the answer as to why this minimum was required.

All the comments here are interesting, and I understand that switching costs
are high, but the $200 barrier without explanation made be bounce from the
form.

I really want to give this a shot, but I want to understand the required funds
first.

~~~
true_religion
Don't all banks require a minimum deposit when opening an account?

~~~
EGF
Most do (some do not) but it was the lack of explanation and the fact that its
$200 that stopped me in my tracks.

------
nekojima
I didn't realize cheques (checks) were still widely being used. I haven't
written a cheque in almost ten years, either personal or business. We've
received a few cheques from large companies, but very rarely.

~~~
niallsmart
I assume from the spelling of cheque that you're located outside the US. :)
The banking system is ridiculously archaic, compared at least to Europe. For
example, there's no simple way for me to directly transfer funds to a friends
bank account (we would have to use PayPal, or I would have to pay a "wire
transfer" fee). It's also quite common for the payroll department to ask you
to bring a "voided check" on your first day at work so they can get your
account details.

~~~
smackfu
There's also a big generation gap between those who think checks are
ridiculous archaic and those who think they are a heck of a lot simpler than
doing it online.

------
lutorm
I wish checks would just die. It's amazing that I'd never used a check before
moving to the US from Sweden in 1996 and I _still_ have to use them today
here!

------
wjamesg
My bank (Charles Schwab Bank, U.S.) has had this for a while now. Also other
cool stuff like two-factor authentication.

~~~
zrail
I have Charles Schwab Bank as well. The thing that they offer that Simple
doesn't is unlimited ATM fee refunds. The ability to go up to any ATM anywhere
in the world and pull out cash with no fees is too big of a benefit to give
up.

------
bkyan
As a small business owner, what I would find to be more useful would be if
someone is sending me a check, they could scan it themselves and then email me
the scan. I could then process the check with an app on my side.

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mike_ivanov
I don't understand what is this thing for and there's no clear explanation
anywhere on the homepage. Can someone enlighten me please? Is it another
PayPal killer or something?

~~~
jacobwg
Simple is an online-only bank (in essence) that's trying to do a lot of things
"right." There's more to it (they call themselves a "bank replacement"), but
that's the basic idea.

~~~
mike_ivanov
"bank replacement" - oh, ok. Thanks.

------
nchlswu
(Hey Simple guys...I know you're watching!)

Is there any video of the interface working? I'm very interested in Simple's
approach to the design of theirs.

------
smackfu
>To clear, checks must be endorsed and have your account number designated on
the back.

What does endorsing a check really do?

~~~
alexkus
[http://money.stackexchange.com/questions/3667/what-is-the-
pu...](http://money.stackexchange.com/questions/3667/what-is-the-purpose-of-
endorsing-a-check)

------
pnathan
Talked with one of the Simple guys earlier this fall. Really great guy, he
described an amazing company. Congrats, Simple. :-)

------
osi
the lack of joint accounts continues to be a barrier for anyone that isn't
legally single.

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Goronmon
If only they supported Android, I could find myself being interested in this
news.

~~~
cylo
That's coming in early 2013.

~~~
jedahan
Link to source?

~~~
twaddington
<https://twitter.com/gagepac/status/273891431817547777>

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fady
i love simple! been using it for months. i find it to be super simple to send
people money, etc.. yes you have to adjust the lack of actual paper checks,
but once you're used to it, its def better.

