New Banking Service Says It Won't Treat You Like Those Big Bad Banks Do

As widespread distrust and dislike for big banking spreads across the country, a new online service called Simple is aiming to woo those disgruntled customers with no-hassle, no-fee banking. Its goal? To be everything those other banks aren’t.

Many consumers ditched their megabanks this year over checking fees, fees to use ATMs at other banks, maintenance fees and any other fee thrown at them. Simple.com, which CNN says has been in development for two years, starting as BankSimple, launched last month and is offering to give customers a fee-free experience.

At Simple, a real person will answer your phone call directly — the same person every time if possible. You will get intuitive Web and mobile apps that can field natural-language questions like, “How much did I spend on taxis in New York last month?” And you’ll get it without any of the surprise fees customers hate. No monthly account fees, no overdraft charges, no debit-card fees or charges for using another bank’s ATMs

.

How can Simple do all this? By basically outsources the actual banking matters to partner banks, insured by the FDIC, that hold your money safe while Simple acts as the customer service arm.

Simple’s CEO had a bad banking experience in 2009, and vowed never to go back to that bank ever again. Fast forward to the founding of Simple.com, which was developed after polling 14,000 customers to see what they wanted in a bank.

So far Simple only has a small amount of customers, as it dips its toes in the banking waters. But there are already 90,000 lined up for an account, should the company continue to expand.

Simple’s pitch: A no-fee, no hassle bank account [CNNMoney]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.