How Switching banks saved me over $1000

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I used to be quite embarrassed to admit, but I struggled with overdraft fees to the extreme in my early 20’s.? When my children???????? were little and my husband?? first left, I paid over $1000+ of overdraft/overdrawn account fees in one year. How? A few ways, bad money management, being naive, and a lack of funds. I felt stuck, but I knew I needed my bank account, it was sucking everything out of me at the same time.

Through the years I was able to get a better handle of my finances, but yet, I still cringed from time to time when a charge, that I forgot about, slipped through the cracks.

I finally had a handle of my money, so the smallest account fee was bothersome.

I was working hard to gain control of my finances so I didn’t want to just give my money away for free, especially for a fee that made no sense to me. Through the years, I was always looking for a better solution for my banking needs. In February 2015, I came across Simple a new online banking platform that promised no banking fees so naturally I was eager to learn more!

It didn’t take much to convince me to open an account, since they had me at “no bank fees”

At the time, you had to get on a waitlist to sign up for an account. I was finally accepted in May of 2015 and I’m happy to say that I’ve never looked back.

Here are some reasons that helped me make the switch..

?No bank fees

When walking into a traditional bank, depending on the account, you can get slapped with a minimum account balance fee, a monthly paper statement fee, an OVERDRAFT fee, and an atm fee and those are just the ones to which I had face-to-face interactions. What I love about Simple is that they seem to be allergic to bank fees, just like I am! If you’re also allergic to bank fees.

Wondering how they make their money? I’ll let them explain that here.

✅Safe-To Spend

Have you ever gotten a bonus and wished you knew how much was safe to spend without going through your budget spreadsheet? Well now you can do that! Simple takes into account scheduled payments, the bills you’ve assigned, and money saving goals, and then it tells you the amount that you have left to spend. It operates as a quick guide when you need to see if you have any financial wiggle room. (This number is only true if you have gone through the process of setting up all your scheduled bills and placing money into the digital folders)

?Digital Envelope system

If you’re anything like me, I like the idea of Dave Ramsey’s envelope system, and understood the point, but I’m way too forgetful to keep my money in envelopes. Well Simple has solution to help you follow the system in a digital way. You simple create goals for your bills internet, phone, electric, water, car and when you get paid assign the funds to their digital envelopes.

?Create saving goals

Need to save for a vacation, new car, graduation present? Simple can help you with that too. You can create a goal just like you did for you bills, but this time set a goal date and how much you need to save. Simple will pull money from you Safe to spend total and add it to your goal. Boom! Saving for your goal without lifting a finger!

?Mobile Banking

Like most banks, they have the convenience of online banking. If you need to deposit a check just take a picture to deposit. You have can send checks from your account and pay bills online and set up automatic payments.

?Instant Transfer

If you have family or friends that have Simple accounts you have the ability to send/receive instance transfers instantly. Yep, you read that right, INSTANTLY! This feature has been extremely helpful to me and a few of my friends. I was out of the country a couple of years ago and I needed some funds before I could paid a couple of days later and instead of having to go through money orders or wire transfer I was able to receive a transfer instantly from a friend. LIVESAVER

?Trackable Spending

Need to know where your spending your money without pulling out a spreadsheet? Simple makes it easy and fun to track your money daily. You can add hashtags, pictures and comments to each purchase, so you can categorize and easily find any transaction with a click of a button. You’re also able to few daily,weekly,monthly, and yearly spending so you can keep a pulse on your spending habits.

?Shareable Accounts

Each of you have a separate account, but also have a shared account. Alone, this feature makes it worth it to give it try, because it will help keep both parties in the know and fully aware of the financial status of the home. As I writing, when my daughter turns 18 next month I may get her an account(Must be 18 to open an account) and try this with her. This would also allow me to use it as a teaching opportunity to teach her to manage her money.

?Security

Having the peace of mind knowing the minute a purchase is made, by receiving push notifications. I’ve come to depend on this in several ways. One in particular, is when I send my children in the store to pick something up and I have to park at the back of the parking lot, because there are no parking spaces. As soon as they check out I receive a notification, so then I know I need to drive to the front of the store to pick them up. It’s the little things! 🙂

This feature is my second favorite, remember above when I said I was forgetful? My Dad has always said “Bianca if your head was not attached to your body you would lost that too”. Well let me tell you he’s not lying.

I’ve called the bank to tell them that “I may have” lost my bank card, then I hang up and I find it on my bed. Well with Simple they have a button you press when you think your card maybe lost or stolen. When you press that button it stops use of your card, but here’s the kicker. If you find that card, you thought you lost, just hit that button again and you’re back in business.

The founders must know someone like me!

You’ll notice I posted all the reasons I love Simple, but I decided to share the cons in a different post, because if you’re like me the No overdraft fee and the security feature were all you needed to hear to open an account.

BONUS: I have been giving word of mouth referrals since I joined, because they have helped me so much. A few years ago, they were giving out thank you’s and card wallets. Now they are giving $20 to the person who refers and $20 to the person that opens an account! That just made them even cooler!

I get $20, You get $20, Everybody gets $20!!