
Simple lays off 33 employees as top executives depart banking company - sciurus
https://www.geekwire.com/2017/simple-lays-off-30-employees-top-executives-depart-banking-company/
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jowiar
The problem for me with Simple is that whole they tend to be very good at
providing support or technology, but are pretty bad at being a bank. They're
unreasonably restrictive with regard to using your debit card abroad, and the
lack of a checkbook is, while not a frequent inconvenience, one that always
seems to be problematic at the worst possible times.

That their solution is "act less like a bank" seems to me that they have got
things horribly backwards.

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vogt
I was a super early adopter and couldn't agree more. I was also pretty young
at the time and really only had that one checking account as a source of
money, and their failures at being a bank really screwed me over. I can
remember being in line trying to pay for $200 worth of groceries and getting
declined (despite having well over that available in my checking account). The
reason was eventually cited to me as a "technical glitch" after I had to call
their after-hours "emergency line" and wait for a callback standing next to my
groceries for a half hour.

The mobile experience was really great though, and I like that they
automatically accounted for things like tips in your available balance to give
a clearer picture of available funds.

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akgerber
I've happily used Capital One 360 (neé ING Direct) for the better part of a
decade at this point. It seems to provide all the same benefits as Simple
(especially no fees for anything ever), while being better at being a bank.

And their web experience, which up until recently seemed to be stuck in 2002,
has improved since the Capital One acquisition.

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cweagans
I was a Simple user for a couple of years back when it was invite only. It was
pretty good, but I wish they'd focus on providing nice tech on top of existing
bank infrastructure. For instance, license out their nice UIs and budgeting
tools to other banks and help with integrations and such, since most banks
have atrocious web banking apps. Or integrate with Plaid and provide a single
transaction aggregation and budgeting tool that looks exactly like Simple's
current interface. I would pay for that.

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aml183
I love Simple, but definitely need a backup bank as well. I use their debit
card for most purchases and love the real-time alerts. Also, love how they
break down purchases.

