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Comment by swampthinker | Hacker News Reader

That's such a strange edge case that I frankly don't blame Simple for turning you down.

Well, here's my strange case: I go by my middle and last name, not my legal first name and last name. My credit cards have Middle Last. Many of my paychecks have gone to Middle Last. The freakin' IRS knows me by Middle Last. And when I first signed up for Simple, my debit card said Middle Last.

And then they changed "partner banks," and reissued my debit card with a new number and new bank account number...and changed the name on my card. And when I asked them to change it back, they said no.

And, yeah, I kinda take it personally. Because now, whenever I pay for anything using Simple, I'm called by a name that I don't consider mine. I have to stop and think, "Oh, they just called out an order for 'John,' and that might be me."

I love Simple in theory, but this was an infuriating regression. After a decade, they still can't accept e-bills, either -- that is, American Express can't send a bill to them and have it automatically deducted. I've kept my Bank of America account around in part because for all the crap BoA gets, their online banking system can receive e-bills and pay them from my account at Simple. For a "technology first" bank like Simple, that should really be kind of fucking embarrassing.

Last but not least? Bank of America also calls me by the name I asked for.

> I'm called by a name that I don't consider mine

Why not legally change your name and get rid of this problem for good?

Changing your name is a hassle and you're stuck with an extra document you have to keep around and copy every time you do anything important like open an account or buy a property.

Because I don't feel like this should actually be that difficult for businesses that aren't the TSA to handle. If your legal name is "Foo Bar Baz" and you prefer to be called "F. Bar Baz" rather than "Foo B. Baz," I don't see why anyone should be throwing up their hands and going, "Woah! That's crazy!"

Because legal name changes are a non-free in both upfront and downstream costs, and not something a customer should have to bear because a business is either to ignorant or too unconcerned with customer experience to accommodate different preferred vs. legal names, and to use the right one for the right purpose.

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