– Simple customers can opt in: Customers who have a Simple deposit account can designate all or part of their anticipated tax refund for direct deposit.
– The feature makes saving automatic: Tax refund deposits are moved into the customer’s Protected Goals Account to earn a higher rate of interest.
Simple has introduced a tax refund feature ahead of tax season. The feature helps customers build savings by designating a portion or all of their anticipated refund to their Simple savings accounts.
The tax refund feature is one of a series of integrated and automated budgeting and banking tools designed to help customers manage their money more confidently and more effectively to achieve their financial goals.
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“We know from ongoing conversations with our customers that they don’t save as much as they’d like,” said David Hijirida, Simple CEO. “We are continually looking for ways to make the savings process as simple, painless and automatic as possible for them. This new feature does that, by moving a portion of their tax refund out of their checking account and into a separate account that earns a higher rate of interest.”
Simple customers learned about the new Tax Refund feature through emails and in-app communications in late February, well in advance of most tax refunds. Customers who have their tax refunds direct-deposited into a Simple account and opt-in to the feature are eligible to participate. When a tax refund from the IRS is direct-deposited to a customer’s account, the predetermined percentage is automatically transferred to the customer’s Protected Goals Account.
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“The entire process for the Tax Refund feature is digital, so customers can do it all within the app or online,” said Hijirida. “Customers who pre-commit to save a portion of their tax refund before they receive it are more likely to actually save it, so our goal is to set them up for success and provide one more way we can help them feel confident with their money.”
Simple announced in February that its Round-up Rules, another of the online bank’s automated budgeting tools, had generated more than $1.2 million in customer savings accounts. That program launched in October 2019 and included more than 18,000 Simple customers.
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