American neobank based in Portland, Oregon
Simple (formerly BankSimple) was an American neobank based in Portland, Oregon. It was recognized as the first neobank and operated between 2009 and 2021. 
The company provided FDIC-insured checking accounts to US citizens, but not to Permanent Residents, through a partnership with The Bancorp Bank before transitioning over to BBVA USA in 2016. It was part of the Allpoint network for surcharge-free access to ATMs. 
In 2014, Simple became part of Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, one of the largest banks in Europe. On May 8, 2021, Simple was closed, and remaining accounts began to be transitioned to BBVA checking and savings accounts.
History.
What was initially known as BankSimple was founded in 2009 in Brooklyn by CEO Joshua Reich and CFO Shamir Karkal. The initial seed capital was provided by Jerry Neumann. In August 2011, the company raised $10 million from investors led by IA Ventures, Shasta Ventures and Dave McClure's fund 500 Startups. Later that month, the company moved its headquarters to Portland, where five of the company's 17 employees already resided.
The company launched in the summer of 2012 as a limited beta.
By January 2013, the company had 20,000 customers and had processed more than $200 million in transactions. By July 2013, its customers had increased to 40,000 and total transaction values increased to greater than $1 billion. At year's end in 2013, Simple reported processing on average around 13 debit transactions per minute with an overall customer balance of $64 million.
On February 20, 2014, Simple announced it had been acquired by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA). Paying through its US subsidiary BBVA Compass., BBVA acquired Simple for $117 million or about $1200 per customer. BBVA was also part of the initial venture funding; it originally became interested in Simple in 2011 when a co-founder of Simple criticized the technology of banks and their approach to customer service.
On May 14, 2018, co-founder Reich announced his plans to step down as the company's CEO.
In February 2020, Simple announced that its automated, round up savings feature had saved customers 1.2 million dollars in less than 4 months since the feature was introduced.
On May 8, 2021, Simple was formally closed, and remaining accounts began to be transitioned to BBVA checking and savings accounts.
Business model.
In contrast with traditional consumer banks, Simple had no physical branches. Instead, account-holders were issued Visa debit cards and had access to an online banking system accessible through Simple.com or mobile apps for Android or iOS. Simple earned revenue by collecting interest on customer deposits and through the collection of interchange fees.
Controversy.
After BBVA acquired Simple, it required non-citizens of the US to open Simple accounts at a BBVA branch rather than online. A federal lawsuit challenging this practice was filed in 2018. , [ 4:19-cv-01541-JST] (N.D. Cal. 2019). 
References.
 ;templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" / ;