Bonus back again 3/3/20. Simple is one of many fintech startups adding fancy tech and smartphone app sprinkles to your vanilla checking account. They were acquired by the big European-based bank BBVA in 2014. They just updated their $200 and $400 new customer bonuses with new expiration dates.
$200 Bonus Details ($10,000+)
- Open a new Simple Account by 3/15/2020 at 4:59 PM PT.
- Deposit(s) totaling $10,000 or more must post to the new account by 4:59PM PT within 15 calendar days after the account is opened.
- Maintain a balance of at least $10,000 through 5/31/20 4:59 PM PT.
- The combined balance between your Simple Account and Protected Goals Account counts towards this bonus. The Protected Goals account currently pays 1.75% APY while the primary checking only pays 0.01% APY, so I would recommend opening one of those as well. Note that balances in *Shared* Accounts and *Shared* Protected Goals Accounts do not toward this bonus.
- Qualifying customers will receive the bonus credit into the eligible Simple account by 6/15/2020 at 4:59pm PT.
$400 Bonus Details ($20,000+)
- Same as above, except you’ll need to deposit $20,000+ within 15 calendar days of opening, and you’ll get a bigger $400 bonus.
This works out to a 2% bonus after 60 days, which makes it roughly 12% APY annualized. The bonus is on top of the variable interest rate of their Protected Goals account, currently 1.75% APY (as of 3/3/20). That is a pretty good return on FDIC-insured cash in this current rate environment.
Note that this offer is for new accounts only. They’ve been running this on and off since July 2019 (thus the old comments below) so many of us are no longer eligible. Here is their full fee schedule.
Note that for some reason Simple limits ACH transfers to/from an external account to $5,000 cumulative during the first 30 days, when initiated on the Simple website. However, you can simply initiate a transfer from another bank (Ally Bank, Marcus, CIT, etc.) and there are no transfer limits.
Bottom line. Simple is offering a $200/$400 bonus on $10,000/$20,000 of new money into a new account. This works out to a very high APY for a 60 day holding period. Currently, there are also new deposit bonuses from CIT Bank and CIBC Bank. Compare with my most recent roundup of best interest rates.
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First my application hung and I needed to call in and have it reset to try again. Now I got this? Anyone else? I said “retired” and “investments” to their questions? Or am I flagged in some sort of database somewhere? Just got approved for a few credit cards recently. Bastards…
Thanks for applying to become a Simple customer. Unfortunately, your application doesn’t meet our requirements and we’re unable to open an account for you. We cannot provide you with any specific reason for denial of your application.
We’re sorry we couldn’t open an account for you. We wish you all the best. Thanks for your interest!
– The Team at Simple
Thanks, Jonathan.
I was uncertain whether to chase another bonus, but then I saw this might provide high-interest checking. They even have a page on their website that says “Check out our high-interest online checking account”.
You say “The Protected Goals account pays 1.90% APY while the primary checking only pays 0.01% APY”, but they seem to imply that if you have both accounts, you get the higher interest rate on both.
Is there anybody here who can confirm that, or is Simple just being too clever with their wording,
My understanding is that the Simple checking pays 0.01% APY and only money that is transferred to a Protected Goals account earns 1.90% APY. They are different buckets, although perhaps the Protected Goals account is also technically a “checking” account?
Ah, thanks for pointing that out. I think Protected Goals could be checking. Even though they talk about savings, there is no 6 transactions/month limit.
(I said in another post that I couldn’t see comments … maybe it is something on my other PC since this one seems to be OK.)
It says “Balances in your Simple Account earn 0.01% APY. Also open an Individual Protected Goals Account to earn up to 1.90% APY and keep it safe from spending. Then we’ll use the combined balance between your Simple Account and Protected Goals Account to calculate your eligibility for the bonus.” So, only the money in ‘protected goals’ gets the good interest rate, though they’ll use the combined balance to determine what interest rate you get.
That’s probably right, but I think Simple (intentionally?) has misleading information on their website. For instance:
“A high-yield checking account that’s different
FDIC-insured up to the legal limit
Earn up to 1.90% APY”
(Jonathan: I am unable to see comments when I go to your website. Could this be something on my end?)
From the fine print: BBVA USA may report the value of the bonus to the IRS as ?required by law.
Does anyone know if “may report” means “will report” and if so, what the implications are?
They will issue you a 1099 at tax time. Anything over $600 requires it, but most banks will send one for anything over ten bucks or so.
I think it means you’ll probably receive a 1099 for the bonus.
The worst I ever received was a $10 1099 from a brokerage firm for some “free trade” credits they gave me.
I agree, I would assume that the bonus will be included on a 1099-INT form along with the other interest earned on the account.
Hay Jonathan have you seen this Varo add?
https://www.varomoney.com/savings-account/?msclkid=eefeb2906bbc1c4c4eedecae68b76adc&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GF%20%7C%20NB%20%7C%20Bank%20Account%20%7C%20BMM%20%7C%20Search&utm_term=%2Bbanks%20%2Baccounts&utm_content=banks%20accounts
Ultimately it worked out; Checked today and found the bonus deposited (early!) for last year’s promo.
The biggest thing to watch out for is, their UI interface is designed around their “goals” approach to saving and spending. But rest assured, you can easily get the routing and account #s and transfer to and from them from another financial institution as you normally would. I still can’t figure out how to transfer money around within Simple itself though; I prefer the traditional organization of accounts.
Now I can reuse these funds for the Marcus promo!
Marcus promo has ended.
” I still can’t figure out how to transfer money around within Simple itself though”
Yes, for something calling itself “Simple”, it does seem a bit hard to understand.
But is there even any reason to use the “normal” account? I think I just ACH in and out with the Protected Goal account (with the higher interest rate) and ignore the other with a near 0% rate.
I’m not clear on the interest rate for protected goals, though. The rate varies depending on the funds deposited, but I can’t tell if it’s blended or if you get the highest rate for the entire balance if you hit the threshold for that APY. (At Orion FCU, it’s blended, otherwise I’d never think to wonder.)
I have opened account and I’m in the higher interest tier. That is the interest rate it displays with no “blending” information. I would think they display that pretty clearly if they were doing that.
Is this still anyone?
Simple seems to require an image w/ ssn/driver license number/etc. To me, this raises a yellow flag. I’ve called and they stated there’s no way around this.
So, I’m out.
Did you actually try to create an account and got that message … or are you reading other material that makes you think you might?
I applied for a Simple account and never had to upload any images. I did probably disclose my drivers license number.