Announcing The Simple iPhone App | Hacker News Reader

Announcing The Simple iPhone App

simple.com

I WANT SIMPLE SO BAD.

Sorry, I don't mean to add noise to the conversation, but I haven't anticipated a product like this for quite awhile. I've also been really impressed with how responsive they are with sometimes demanding requests for account ETAs, etc. Bodes well for their future customer service.

Every time I see a blog post from Simple I literally salivate. I've been on the waiting list since February 8th and all I got was this lousy "Thank you for signing up" email. TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY

TAKE MY MONEY AND HELP ME SPEND IT EFFECTIVELY WHILE SAVING FOR FUTURE GOALS WITH YOUR IMMACULATE INTERFACE!

Looks awesome... can't wait to try it! Been on the wait list for what feels like (and probably has been) 1.5 years though... Plans/ETA for android version?

Same here, at least 1.5, probably closer to 2 (I think their original invitation signups were in June or July of 2010).

Thanks! I'm Dustin, Lead Mobile Engineer at Simple. We're working on an Android version and hiring Android developers: http://careers.simple.com/apply/phViRT/Android-Engineer.html

to be completely honest - I am sitll confused what Simple does differently than Mint.com

also - have been on the waiting list forever...

Simple is like an online banking account where as Mint requires you to have an existing bank or credit card account. Mint just helps you to visual and consolidate all your accounts into one easy to access area.

Simple requires you to have an existing bank or credit card account too, right??

No:

Can I use Simple with my current bank?

No. You’ll transfer money to our platform, where it’s held in an FDIC-insured account at our partner bank. Our partner holds the funds, and we take care of the rest.

https://simple.com/faq/

Definitely look forward to having an account with Simple soon.

'Safe to spend' balance is brilliant and is something I have to do manually in Excel by playing with numbers.

However, if I keep a zero-sum budget it would be nice to have multiple safe-to-spend balances. If I understand correctly[1], with Simple I can presumably just set non-bill budgets (eg. fuel, clothing, mini-savings, misc/blow) as bills or even goals to fake it. That way, 'safe to spend' will always be $0 (give or take) — in essence managing a virtual envelope system, making my personal finances much easier to handle than the current grunt work one has to endure.

[1] "Safe to Spend is your account balance minus what you've saved toward goals, minus pending contributions toward goals, minus pending bills in the current pay cycle." https://www.simple.com/blog/Saving/simple-budgeting-and-rain...

Any ETA on a rollout of the service to people on the waiting list?

We began rolling out in November of last year. It's going to take us a while to get through the entire list. I know many of you have been waiting over a year & we deeply appreciate your patience.

I'm surprised so many people are clamoring for this. While the system seems excellent overall, the lack of a rewards program on the card seems like a deal-breaker for day-to-day use. Why would I use this instead of a credit card that gives me 1-5% cash back?

So, a couple reasons:

1. Unless you're doing an absolute ton of spending on your rewards credit card, any fees you pay on your credit card probably wipe out any cash you're getting back. If you're not paying fees yourself, merchants or other institutions may be subsidizing your rewards in ways that aren't sustainable. Many rewards programs have been slashed during the financial crisis of the last several years.

2. Cash-back rewards make your personal accounting more complicated. If you really want to set and meet financial goals, you need to be keeping close tabs on what you spend on what card, how much you're getting back in rewards, what fees you're paying, and where those reward dollars are going so that you're actually accumulating wealth (saving account, brokerage account, etc.). Our model combines an interest-bearing account with the ability to easily track your financial goals. Keeping it all in one place is, in our experience, way easier.

We're not crazy about the idea of rewards programs, but it's also not something we've completely ruled out. If we can find a way to do a rewards program that has clear incentives for our customers, merchants, and our partner institutions, we'll explore that.

Thanks for your reply.

1. I pay no fees on my credit card. My full balance is paid automatically and 1-5% is refunded (depending on where I spent the money). To put that in perspective, if I spend $50,000 I get back $500-2500, which is not an insignificant amount. You are absolutely correct that rewards are subsidized by merchant and banking fees. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but don't merchants have to pay fees when accepting Visa debit cards as well?

2. Cash-back rewards only make personal accounting more complicated if you calculate them on an ongoing basis and pay additional fees for the credit card. If you do neither of these you'll stay within your budget and be rewarded with a substantial bonus every month that you can then spend or invest.

With all that said, I agree that keeping it all in one place would be much easier and I would love to try Simple myself. I just can't imagine replacing my day-to-day purchases with a debit card, no matter how awesome the system that surrounds that card may be.

And if you're not into credit cards just by principle, there's always Perkstreet's debit card. As their tagline goes, "No fees, just perks." (Perks being gift cards or cash back.)

good question. a lot of hype

I wish they had something to let you know how far down you are on the wait list and how long it will be approximately until you can finally get an account. I signed up for the wait list nearly a year ago. Getting a bit frustrated with how long it's taking.

They should make an app for that - I think it would have more users.

Sorry, I know it's been a long wait. We hope it'll be worth it.

Nice, I didn't know they were already taking signups.

Also I'm in Win7 on Chrome and the site font (maybe the font-weight?) makes text on the site appear real fuzzy.

Thanks. We're working on it.

Since you're here...

I got an email in November saying "Because you got in early, you can probably expect to get your invite by Spring of 2012."

Can I still expect that? Bank of America is killing me, and there's only so long I can wait.

Yes, that's still the plan. Your patience is appreciated.

Same situation here. Any ETA on joint accounts? I just realized that even after my hard-won invite appears, I won't be able to share an account with my wife... :-(

I still think BankSimple would've made for a better brand. Simple sounds too generic.

"Hey, have you tried this Simple app?" "What's the name of this app? Where can I find this app?" "It's Simple" "Yeah I know, but what's the name of it?" "Umm.. it's Simple" "Simple what?" "Just Simple" "I searched the App Store. No app called Just Simple, dummy"

I agree, my first thought was "Simple what?".

I have no idea why this was down voted. That really was my first thought and not meant as an insult to anyone.

"Apple" sounds pretty generic for the name of a computer company :)

couldnt agree more -

Agreed. I just tried to find the confirmation email from Simple to see when I'd signed up - "Simple" gave 200 false positives, "from:simple.com" found the email. In a search-engine era being difficult to find isn't the most strategic move.

Simple is building a product that they are certain will be successful. VC's should be clamoring to get involved with Simple.

Look at the Simple Twitter feed and you'll see people begging for invites.

I am still hoping for an invite Spring '12 as my last email from them indicated. :)

is Simple like PayPal with plastic card and nice web/app interface?

It's a 'simple' layer of banking, although they are not a bank. They're partnered with Bancorp. They offer some additional features (namely, direct deposit and FDIC backing) over Paypal.

I've been using Simple since September[0] as a complete replacement for my bank account. That's the idea - you replace your existing checking/savings/etc accounts with Simple.

[0]: I work there.

Shut up and take my business!

Ha! We're working on it.

If I ever see you in person I'm going to literally throw my money at you.

I just got out of debt just to move to you guys and start from 0 debt... please invite me!

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