Simple -- Announcing Goals | Hacker News Reader

Simple -- Announcing Goals

simple.com

25 pointsdcope21 comments

As a Simple user (the invites DO eventually arrive), I'm excited to see the goals feature and it will definitely help me make better financial decisions and sock money away rather than spend it - that "safe to spend" meter becomes the new normal and you adjust your life accordingly. It's amazing how "rich" or "poor" you feel based on that number and how it dictates spending decisions day to day.

Can't wait until joint accounts because that will enable a real shift of my finances to Simple so I can start really hitting my goals.

Keep up the good work!

I received my invite 1 week ago, and I completely agree that the 'safe to spend' meter becomes the new normal. It is a simple concept that really shifts your thinking - much for the better. I would love to hear the story on how they hit on that.

I got in a while back, transferred some money in, then realized that it's no better than my credit union (actually worse, in it's current stage) feature-wise (yet, hopefully), and transferred my money back.

Agreed. Looks cool and I'd like to support them but for the most part, the only improvement over my current bank is the design.

One of the things that simple intends to focus on is an accessible dev-friendly API. That is what I'm most excited about. The UI/UX is incredible and the support was fast (Received an answer within a few hours on an early Saturday AM). They've got my vote. Oh, and +1 for 4-word pass phrases. My old bank had a 16(!) char limit.

I felt similarly disillusioned. In the fine print there is also an inactivity fee if you don't use your simple account-- feels very counter to their ostensible philosophy.

I had the same experience - I think Simple might be a positive change for those who are currently using a complex or scammy large bank, but for those us who are already credit union members, Simple doesn't seem to offer much.

Once they add check deposit by picture, they'll be beating my particular CU in one key area, but I think I'll still keep my spending money with my CU for the time being - it's much easier to have my banking needs taken care of in one place, and my credit union hasn't scammed me, misplaced my money, or charged me an unreasonable fee yet (and I don't expect them to start).

I signed up about a year ago, and finally got an invite a couple weeks ago. The signup process is certainly impressive, as far as UX is concerned.

It requires iPhone at the moment (just to sign up), which was a bummer as I personally prefer Android. I have a test device I use for work, so I was still able to go through with the signup process. I'd received my card about a week later.

I'm patiently waiting for the Android app before using it with any regularity, so for now I consider it a savings account.

Is the app an integral part of it? I don't do any banking on my phone.

No. Right now, they only use it for 2-factor auth when you send money to someone and for sending your signature during signup.

Simple looks pretty neat, but I feel like I requested an invite almost a year ago now and still haven't received one. New features are great, but meaningless to me if I can't use them.

yup, and it's somehwat disheartening to hear you requested an invite almost a year ago and still haven’t gotten in. i registered about 5-6mos ago; guess the wait’s going to be a lot longer than i figured..

I registered somewhere between a year and nine months ago, and I just got mine in the mail two weeks ago.

Just double-checked the date. I requested an invite in early November, 2011. So 9 months ago.

The original invites started over 2 years ago, and those people just recently received a card. So if people who signed up a year ago have also been let in, others can't be too far behind.

I finally received my invite, only to find out I need an iPhone to use the service. I won't give up my lovely galaxy nexus!

I do understand it's hard to develop these things, and for multiple platforms.

I believe you don't need an iPhone and you can call them to set up an account if you don't have one.

This is not the case. I've tried and they absolutely will not sign you up unless you have an iOS device, even if you don't intend to use mobile features. Very frustrating, since I too waited a year for an invite.

With apologies for hijacking the thread - I tried resetting my password for my existing account today, but have had no luck to my gmail address getting anything, and there is no other contact information on the website... help?

I requested an invite sometime on or before 1/24/11 (my earliest email from BankSimple acknowledging I had requested an invite) and still haven't received the invite.

Guess they don't want me?

I found that they were extremely responsive on Twitter and even told me when to expect the invite. Might want to reach out to them there.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com