Simple Bank is Closing – Here Are 45+ Alternatives Ranked in a Free Spreadsheet

Earlier this week, Simple Bank announced it’s shutting down.

All Simple accounts will merge into its parent bank BVAA, which in turn was recently acquired by PNC. The timeline and specifics have not yet been announced:

“Simple will be ceasing operations in 2021. There’s no immediate impact to our customers, and you can still access your account as usual. Account servicing will be transitioned to BBVA USA later this year—we’ll keep you updated every step of the way.”

This is sad news for the many users who used and loved Simple. 

Personally, I’ve had a Simple account since it launched back in beta back in 2012. The concept of an online only, app-centric digital bank (neobank) was quite new back then.

I signed up out of curiosity, but also because I appreciated the design of its app, website, and cool all-white debit card. Indeed, Simple deserves credit for launching the trend of “cool looking debit cards,” which are now widespread.

It took a few years, but Simple became my primary checking and savings account. I mostly used it for two reasons: 

• It offered the best joint-banking features of any other bank. My partner and I could very easily track shared expenses, and move money between our accounts. 
• It worked flawlessly with Tiller Money, the main tool I use to manage my financial life.

I’ll wait and see what BBVA / PNC offers before I ultimately move my accounts, but I’ve already started looking for an alternative. 

Simple Bank Alternatives for Online Checking and Debit Accounts Ranked in a Free Spreadsheet

For my own use, I started to assemble a Google Sheet of Simple alternatives. But after a tedious half-hour, I was smart enough to look on Reddit to see if anyone else had already started work on this.

Turns out Redditor 11jwolfe2 had already assembled an amazingly helpful spreadsheet with 45+ banks.

It’s still growing with lots of crowdsourced feedback. (The hive mind of Reddit + the collaborative nature of cloud-based Google Sheets is almost better than chocolate + peanut butter.)

Here are two ways to view the spreadsheet:

• Public Simple Bank Alternatives spreadsheet you can browse in comment-only mode
• Template version you can copy directly into your Google Drive to save for later
• Bonus: here’s a smaller version you can browse in Notion

Do you use Simple?

If you were a Simple customer, are you thinking of switching to a different bank, or will you see what happens next? Or do you use another online checking account that you love? Please share here in the Tiller Money Community.

Note: if the spreadsheet link breaks, please let us know in the Tiller Money Community and we’ll provide a backup.