Online banking has taken a turn for the better over the last couple of years. You’ve no doubt seen the Chase ad where an on-the-go mom takes a photo of a check with her phone only to have it instantly deposited into her account, or the one where quarterback Drew Brees accesses his account via smartphone to send money to his neighbors after his toddler kicks a football through several homes and a barbeque. But what if you’re not a member of Chase (and you don’t want to be subjected to their ridiculous fees)? Luckily, there is an app (available to anyone with an iPhone) that can help you to handle all of your banking needs no matter where you are. You’ll never have to hit a bank branch again when you download the Simple app for your smartphone.

Created by Simple Finance Technology, this app definitely lives up to its name by providing a comprehensive, yet simple system for managing your banking needs with nothing more than a handheld mobile device. What may surprise you the most is that this app does not link to your existing checking and savings accounts. Instead, it operates sort of like PayPal, providing you with a standalone financial account that you can use like a virtual bank account (in conjunction with a Simple Visa debit card).

In case you didn’t know, money is on the way out as credit becomes king. And this app offers a way for forward-thinking individuals to throw away the fees that come with traditional banks (for low balance, overdraft, transactions, funds transfer, or “monthly service fees” taken from your account for the mere privilege of being part of a specific banking institution – bitter much?). They won’t even charge you for using out-of-network ATMs (although you’ll probably still get charged on the other end by the ATM owner).

But what can you do with it? Pretty much everything you could do at a brick-and-mortar bank. You can deposit checks, set up direct deposit, pay bills (and schedule automatic bill pay), see your current (safe-to-spend) balance, find ATMs that are close to your current location, arrange transactions, and view, search, organize, and add memos to transactions. You can also click on any transaction to see details (including a map that pinpoints the location of the vendor you visited) and contact customer service at the push of a button should you notice any fraudulent activity or encounter any problems that you would like to address post haste. In fact, pretty much the only thing you can’t do is deposit cash via smartphone (you’ll still have to visit an ATM to do that).

You don’t have to be a financial guru like Suze Orman or a Wall Street warrior like Timothy Skyes to see the inherent value in this handy iPhone application. With just a few easy clicks, Simple can deliver all the banking tools you would get from your average bank sans the hefty fees that currently have you shaking your fists in frustration. So request an invite, download the free app, and get started today; before long you’ll be ready to say goodbye to banks in favor of simple, smart, mobile financial management.

Editor’s Note

Thanks to Evan Fischer for this quest post. He is a freelance writer and part-time student at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.

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