We work with partner banks who hold on to deposits. For all intents and purposes, you never have to think about who that partner bank is, but if you ever need to contact them directly, you'll know where your funds are.
You might find our FAQ informative: https://www.simple.com/faq/.
Do you plan to use customers leverage to get better terms with the actual banks? Like could you move all the accounts to another bank if it paid better interest or something like that? Do you take a cut of the action?
Yes, you'll know what institution your funds are at. When you get your Simple card, it'll say "issued by {Bank Name}" on the back.
(Also, what bank do you currently work with? What will the first round of cards say?)
You call us if you have a problem or question. We'll let you know what bank your funds reside at, but you should never need to contact them. We have our own in-house customer relations staff.
Thank you for taking the time to answer some of our questions on what is surely a busy day.
Is the account at the partner bank in my name, or that of Simple?
Your money must be in your name for it to get the FDIC's "$250,000 limit per depositor" insurance coverage. Having one big mattress with Simple's name on it would preclude your money being insured. Ergo, the account must be in your name.
If the money were not in my name, that would be deal killer.
EDIT: for clarity.
The accounts would technically be "in your name", since the funds are yours, but you never have to interface with the other bank, so it becomes a question of: do you want to know the technical specifics, or stick to what's pragmatic? Pragmatically, your account would be with Simple. Your money is in an FDIC insured depository bank, so you don't face any additional risk because of the "partner" distribution.
The bank pulls a credit check on you, the individual, to mitigate risk. A company like Simple would secure a bond or insurance to mitigate this risk for the partner bank, reducing the friction for a business critical action (moving partner banks).
Pragmatically, Simple wouldn't survive very long if every customer were hit with a hard credit pull every time Simple moved their funds. I'm not even sure that would be legal.
I would be interested in knowing who the partners are so that I can assure myself that they are doing business in a way that differentiates them from the megabanks.
On a side note: I was onboard with the BankSimple idea when I thought they were building a bank, now, I'm not so sure. I think it's a good idea, but not a great idea.