I've been with Simple for about a year and a half, and slowly moved from my TD Bank account to using Simple exclusively for personal banking. They've blown me away with how a bank can operate if it just joins the 21st century. Everything from their UX to their customer service is outstanding. Calling them on the phone reminds me of going in to my local bank when I lived in a small town in Iowa.

Then again, this is pretty much the way I felt when I joined Commerce Bank in 2002. They were leaps and bounds above any other bank in everything from their down-home attitude to their evening and weekend hours. Then they got acquired.

Things weren't too different with ING Direct. Joined up for their interest-bearing checking and used them as my savings account. Had wonderful experiences. Then they got acquired.

Tangential, but relevant, I got HostGator as my hosting provider many years ago—they were a little company in Texas with great service and great people. I'm leaving them this month. They got acquired, and everything changed.

I hope this goes well for Simple. I really do. But I'm preparing myself. I know the signs to watch out for. First they'll get an automated phone tree, and I'll have to tell the robot what I want. Then it will get just a little longer to wait for a person. A couple fees will show up, nothing much, just little stuff. Tiny, unobtrusive, totally defensible, annoying policies will start taking hold. And soon, it'll be just another online bank—albeit one with a very pretty iPhone app.

I hope that doesn't happen. But I'm bracing myself anyway.