Online-only bank Simple is shutting down, its parent company announced in an email to customers Thursday. BBVA USA, which acquired Simple in 2014 for $117 million, said it would be transitioning Simple customers to BBVA accounts but did not provide details about when the change would occur. BBVA USA was acquired by Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank in November.
In the email to users, which many shared with The Verge, BBVA said the decision to close Simple was a strategic one and said customers did not need to take any immediate action.
There is no immediate impact to your accounts at Simple and nothing you need to do at this time. Since your deposits are already housed at BBVA USA, they will remain in FDIC insured accounts there, up to the applicable limits. In the future, your Simple account will become exclusively services by BBVA USA, but until then you can continue to access your account and your money through the Simple app or online at Simple.com.
Stimulus payments and other direct deposits won’t be affected, according to the note to customers. “We will provide ongoing transparent and open communication, so you know what to expect each step of the way,” the company wrote. More details will be coming in the future, according to the emails.
At the time of the BBVA acquisition, Simple had about 100,000 users. When it launched in 2010, Simple quickly amassed a waiting list of 125,000 people attracted to the online-only, streamlined experience Simple promised. When Google Wallet shut down in 2016, Google recommended Simple as a possible replacement.
BBVA said in a statement Thursday that it was closing Simple as part of the PNC acquisition, as it was “accelerating some changes and stopping work on others.” Once that acquisition closes, the former Simple customers will become PNC customers, the company said.
