BankSimple Signs Processing Partner TxVia, Plans to Offer Payment Cards Later This Year
Simple Finance Technology Corp., the startup behind BankSimple today announced a partnership with TxVia to handle financial transactions between BankSimple and third parties, including the card associations, ATM networks and bill processors.
BankSimple, which was formed two years ago, plans to provide FDIC-insured products accessed through a single BankSimple-branded card that will provide fee-free access to over 50,000 ATMs, free online bill payment, money transfers, and responsive customer service via the phone and Web.
In his blog, CEO Joshua Reich claims that most U.S. banks in America use one of three main processing platforms that "were designed decades ago and have been very slow to adopt modern features. And customers have had to suffer as a consequence with system outages, delayed processing, and a lack of innovation." TxVia has developed a modern processing system "designed to minimize the technical requirements for banking partners, while leveraging new technologies," he says.
Specifically, TxVia’s API, database grid replication and message queues will allow BankSimple to give customers better visibility into how they save and spend, Reich says. "It also allows us to dynamically re-route transaction flows to maximize financial efficiency for our customers. In short, their system rocks."
When we met with Reich last month, he criticized traditional banks' online and mobile banking offerings. "Mobile banking feels like an afterthought of an afterthought, not a first-class experience," he said, noting that it's often cumbersome, requiring long, hard-to-type online banking passwords.
One offering BankSimple is working on, he told us, is real-time card transactions, so that customers can immediately know the impact of purchases and withdrawals on their budget and savings goals.
About 40,000 people have expressed interest in signing up for BankSimple. It's also setting up bank partnerships, through which it will provide the online, mobile and card interface and customer service. In return, bank partners will give BankSimple a portion of the interest and interchange income they receive from the products they support.
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