Village Ventures

Simple (f.k.a. BankSimple) was featured in Forbes round up of new financial services and applications that will make financial management the easiest thing you do this year.

BankSimple, the well-funded startup that’s setting out to build ‘a bank that doesn’t suck’, has some big news today: it’s now allowing its first users into the service. And to mark the occasion, it’s announcing another major change: the company is now just called Simple (and yes, they own Simple.com).

BankSimple and On Deck Capital are both featured in this article about how the unique ways startups are using technology to transform the way financial services are delivered and to solve problems that traditional institutions have yet to successfully address.

BankSimple says it is finally going live and expects its first customers to begin receiving their debit cards by early November.

BankSimple, a yet-to-be-launched personal banking platform, plans to hire 40 new employees over the next year after raising $10 million in a funding round led by existing investor IA Ventures. Founded in 2009, the Portland, Ore.-based company currently has 18 employees.

Disruptive banking start-up BankSimple has announced partnerships with Visa, The Bancorp Bank and CBW Bank and secured a further $10 million in funding ahead of its planned launch later this year.

By studying customers and rethinking the user interface, BankSimple finds ways to make online banking more enjoyable.

TxVia, Inc., a leader in processing technology for prepaid and emerging payments, and Simple Finance Technology Corp., the creators of BankSimple, announced an agreement whereby TxVia will enable a variety of financial products for BankSimple, including processing for payment cards, starting later this year.

A conversation with BankSimple CFO Shamir Karkal about payments, an area where the company stands out starkly from the mass of banks and credit unions by being in favor of lower debit interchange fees

“…as soon as BankSimple is up and running, I will open an account with them. Read on to find out why.”

“Most people have a horrible relationship with their banks,” said Alex Payne, BankSimple’s co-Founder and Chief Product & Technology Officer. “We wanted to make the experience a lot more human.” BankSimple’s creative director, Bill DeRouchey, puts a finer point on it: “We’re focused exclusively on the user experience of banking.”

VV portfolio company BankSimple is featured in this article about how startups are revolutionizing banking.

A waiting list for a bank may seem bizarre, but BankSimple has collected more than 20,000 email addresses for its beta release.

Village Ventures’s new portfolio company BankSimple is profiled in this article.

BankSimple, raised $2.9 million in its first round of funding. Village Ventures, First Round Capital and IA Ventures led the round