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Online Banker Simple, one of Portland’s largest tech companies for the past decade, is shutting down as part of its parent bank’s sell-off process.
On Wednesday, employees simply informed employees of the impending shutdown and told customers on Thursday, calling it a “strategic decision.” Simple has told clients that he will transfer their accounts to BBVA but will not set any timeline for the change.
In November, BBVA announced that it would sell its US operations to PNC Financial Services Group for $ 11.6 billion.
“We are focusing on the things that make the most sense for the future of the business, whether on a stand-alone basis or on a basis potentially combined with PNC,” BBVA said in a written statement Thursday. BBVA is also closing two other FinTech services it owns, Azlo and Open Platform.
Founded in 2009, Simple moved from Brooklyn to Portland two years later amid a renaissance in Oregon’s tech entrepreneurship. It was instantly among the city’s top tech companies, promising a user-friendly, no-fee approach to online banking.
Simple sold in 2014 to Spanish banker BBVA for $ 117 million and never found its place under the new owner. The company has struggled to compete as big banks embrace many of the convenient online banking features that Simple helped pioneer.
The company hesitated as it tried to resolve a central tension over whether it was primarily a bank or a tech company. Simple laid off 10% of its workforce in 2017 and replaced almost all of its executives. Nine months later, founding CEO Josh Reich resigned.
“I suspect that PNC is prioritizing its existing online banking technology,” Reich tweeted Thursday. “I am saddened by the closure, but happy with the journey and the lasting change Simple has had in the global banking world. Customer experience is important. Great teams matter. “
Simple was one of Portland’s largest tech employers. Its current staff number 220, according to BBVA, 80% of whom are in the North West.
BBVA has not announced details of Simple’s disbandment or the fate of its Southeast Portland office at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge.
“There are still many details to be addressed in connection with the liquidation of the entity,” BBVA said in a statement Thursday. “As we develop regulatory approval and integration plans, our long-term staffing needs will become clearer.”
Simple embodied both the aspirations and disappointments of Portland’s tech community in the years following the Great Recession. Capitalizing on mobile technology, social media and cloud computing, Simple was part of a new generation of promising Oregon startups that have ended the Silicon Forest’s historic dependence on manufacturing equipment.
Others of this generation included Jive Software, Urban Airship (now Airship), Elemental Technologies, Puppet, Jama Software, Janrain, and Act-On Software. They have collectively attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital and hired thousands of people.
However, all have suffered their own set of setbacks, and none has grown into a very large company. Some are still working – Puppet says he hopes to go public this year – while others are being sold to bigger tech companies that continue to operate in Portland.
No new big tech companies have sprung up in Oregon since the 1990s, and the old ones are phasing out. The $ 8 billion sale of Wilsonville-based Flir Systems announced on Monday leaves only two publicly traded technology companies in Oregon.
Simple’s dedicated customer service and dedication to helping customers save money, rather than spend it, has differentiated it from larger and more established banks and has earned it a dedicated customer base.
Online, there was a wave of disappointment from some of those customers on Thursday.
– Mike Rogoway | [email protected] | Twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699
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