Not so @Simple

I submitted my request this morning to close my Simple bank account. I've been a member for a few years, but in my ongoing effort to, ahem, simplify, it's time I bid them adieu.

from bankinnovation.net

I liked the premise of Simple - they were going to reinvent banking. They had a few interesting features, including goal setting. They also had a great interface, both online and later on Android.  The ability to search and classify transactions and the reporting is rather attractive.

And in the beginning, they had this awesome all-white debit card that came in this neat pouch.  I think they had to create a special fee for people who exposed their credit card number in their excitement to tweet about their new card (one of the very few fees they ever had).

I used to love handing over my card because people would be amazed. One cashier demanded to know "what does it do?" not believing it was just a white card, suspecting it to be some kind of supercard, like a black Amex or something.  The card has lost some of its simplicity over the years with the addition of the chip. Sadly, the card also gets dirty quickly and the raised letters of the card number and name eventually turn black.  They can reclaim some of the design simplicity in the future if they eliminate the raised letters like a few of my other credit cards have.  The joint account cards lose the simple design altogether.

I've been a member since nearly the beginning, opening my account at the end of June 2012.  I used it for income from my side gig but it was never going to fully replace my bank so now it's time to move on.

One of its coolest features was Goal Setting - you picked something you wanted to save for and it would deduct money daily from your account into the goal.  You had a "Safe to Spend" number that it kept in front of you at all times.  If you overspent, it would come from the goal, but the idea was if you paid attention to your StS balance, that was unlikely to occur.  It was a neat future and I used it a few times to save up for things.

They also had responsive and personable service from real people, I was able to handle a few issues just over their messaging system, including a disputed charge and a rejected payment for my property taxes that almost cost me a large late fee.

In the early days, they also posted regular blog posts about issues surrounding banking and finances.  I learned a lot of new things and I thought it was a great way to show off that they were smart people trying to do new stuff in a complicated and highly regulated industry.  They seem to have abandoned the sharing of that type of insight and expertise.

Why am I leaving?  A couple of reasons...

No support for Samsung Pay - in an effort to simplify, I'm trying to lighten my wallet as much as possible.  I can't completely eliminate all cards, but I'm trying to use SP when I can because it's pretty slick.

Lack of exciting new innovation - Goal Setting was fascinating and it seemed so obvious. I expected to see regular new concepts like this, a fast clip of innovation that reinvented banking - young, energecity technology people proving they could upend the stodgy old industry, but that really hasn't occurred.  Instead, they got absorbed by a large bank (one that approached me to talk about a job, put me through a ringer with an insane number of interviews before deciding I wasn't what they wanted) and now they're beta testing... get this... paper checks!!!!  I think they're going the wrong way.

Confusing Joint Accounts - I waited for a long time for joint accounts and by the time they showed up, life was just too complicated and I couldn't convince my wife to accept the invite and get her account set up. Plus, the way it exists has been confusing to me.  You end up with mulitple cards and multiple accounts.  It's not simple, or at least not easy to understand.

A really annoying App notification - To be honest, this is actually the one thing that -- more than anything -- is driving me away from Simple. When you use their Bill Pay to pay someone, they send you a notification in the app alerting you when the recipient has deposited the check (as well as an email). I've never had this with another bank and frankly, it was never something that I was missing. It's just extra noise to get an alert, but my only other option was to turn off all alerts and then I'd miss stuff I wanted, like new deposits into the account. I even inquired if they could make it optional, something I could turn off in my account, but I guess I was the only one bothered by it.

So, I've transferred all my money out and submitted a support ticket to have my account closed. (American Express, you're next!)