PORTLAND, Ore.—The rapid rise of the online bank Simple was profiled by USA Today, which noted that while it may be a banking service, its CEO and co-founder does not want consumers to view it that way.
Instead, Josh Reich told the publication he has worked to position Simple as a technology start-up that is hyper-focused on customer service and user experience, much like Uber. The company has a mobile app and a network of more than 55,000 ATMs nationally. "We’re very much designed to build banking for how people think rather than how banks work," Reich told USA Today.
“Simple's approach spells the future of banking, where tellers and physical locations are unnecessary and companies are judged based on how enjoyable of an experience they create,” USA Today said. “Essentially, Simple is doing everything it can to distance itself from the reputation of traditional financial institutions, an industry not typically lauded for its customer service or consumer-friendly policies.
Because it doesn't rely on fees for revenue — it profits off interest margin and interchange fees — Simple doesn't necessarily care if a potential customer has a history of overdrafts or bounced checks, which means it can acquire customers traditional banks may have declined. Its user experience mimics the same things people are used to doing on other apps, including taking photos and associating them with transactions, adding memos talking about who you were with or what you were doing and adding hashtags to expenses to automatically categorize them.”
USA Today further reported the company has worked to cut down on any “friction” involved in money management, and noted that it also practices old-fashioned service, such as employees sending handwritten thank-you notes and original drawings to customers.”
Simple has declined to provide an exact number for its customers, saying only it’s in the “hundreds of thousands” and is growing by about 10% per month. In 2014 Simple was acquired by BBVA for $117 million.