Following it the third installment on the innovations from Simple. The onboarding process was covered in the first two segments, now we move to the online UI.

Part 1: Innovations #1 and #2: Demo mode after login
Part 2: Innovations #3 and #4: Debit-card mailer

________________________________________________

#5 Red message-waiting badge
________________________________________________

This week, Simple launched Goals, its first budgeting/savings feature. Customers were alerted to the new feature via email (see note 1) and online message. Within online banking, users are notified of new messages by a red badge over the Support button on the top-nav (see first screenshot).

Clicking the button causes the right-side of the screen to turn into an integrated message center (see below).

________________________________________________

#6 Integrated message center
________________________________________________

The Simple message center is integrated into the main online banking UI better than most (screenshot 2). Users have three choices to click on:

• Call Us launches a popup with a large toll-free number that no user could overlook (screenshot 5)
• Start a Conversation launches a blank email form integrated into the UI (screenshot 3)
• 1 Unread Message which then displays the full message along with a place to respond, even for this marketing message (screenshot 4)

The message notification badge is intuitive, especially for iPhone users. And the way it contrasts with the gray nav bar really makes it pop. The integrated message center takes a little getting used to, because it’s not at all what I expected. For example, I thought “start a conversation” would lead to an online chat. And initially I didn’t see where the full message was located. The “1 Unread Message” button looks more like an indicator, not so much a clickable item.

Bottom line: Once I figured out where to click, I appreciated the integrated approach. It is nice to be able to respond to messages without losing site of my main task, checking my balance and transactions.

—————————————-

1. Simple’s main online banking page shows a red number badge in right-hand corner when an unread message is waiting (22 Aug 2012)
Note: Transaction listing includes a tag showing when a tip has been added

2. Simple’s integrated message center

2a. Message center close-up              3. Create new message
Note: All message center functions remain pinned to the right-side of the main online banking page

4. Full message

5. Simple “Call Us” popup

———————————————-

Notes:
1. The email itself was a let down, a generic message requesting that I log in to see what was up.
2. For more info on Simple, see our look at Truly Virtual Banks in our Oct 2011 Online Banking Report (subscription).
3. We’ve tackled remote banking customer service and messaging a number of times in previous Online Banking Reports. The last one was Live Help published last year.