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Azlo Is Closing Down

63 points| brainsrgdropout | 5 years ago

Just got the e-mail below. Odd decision given the massive pandemic growth and recent launch of Azlo Pro.

Who has suggestions for migration? THX

It is with regret that I share this news today: Our parent bank, BBVA US, has made the strategic decision to close Azlo. Transparency is incredibly important to me and the Azlo team, which is why we are sharing the news early. There will be no immediate changes to your account or to your service.

As founders and entrepreneurs ourselves, we know that there can be unexpected bumps on the entrepreneurial journey. We’re sorry that we won’t be alongside you—our inspiring community of entrepreneurs—as you grow and flourish.

We want to reiterate that Azlo’s service, and your account, is not going away today, and we will continue to support you during this period of transition. We understand that you will have questions for us. Please stay tuned for updates and news.

With admiration,

Cameron Peake, Founder and CEO The Azlo Team

57 comments

order

jamilbk|5 years ago

BBVA is closing Simple too. Lucky me, I use Azlo for my business and Simple for my personal :-(.

> We have an update for you about your banking relationship with Simple, a subsidiary of BBVA USA.

> BBVA USA has made the strategic decision to close Simple. There is no immediate impact to your accounts at Simple and nothing you need to do at this time. Since your deposits are already housed at BBVA USA, they will remain in FDIC insured accounts there, up to the applicable limits. In the future, your Simple account will become exclusively serviced by BBVA USA, but until then you can continue to access your account and your money through the Simple app or online at simple.com. You will receive additional information in the near future about the transition of your account servicing to BBVA USA.

> We want to assure you that we are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for you, and that we will provide ongoing transparent and open communication, so you know what to expect each step of the way.

> Our customer services agents will not be able to address questions about this announcement at this time. We will contact you proactively as we have more details. Please only contact customer support for your regular banking needs.

> Thank you for being a Simple customer, it's been an honor to serve you.

> — The Team at Simple

> What does it mean for me? You can continue to access your account and your money through the Simple app or online at simple.com and with your Simple Visa® Debit card. We will begin posting updates on the transition as we have them on simple.com.

> Does this affect my stimulus payment? No. Your stimulus, unemployment aid and any other deposits will continue to be deposited in your account as they are received. If you have not received your IRS payment please use the IRS Get My Payment tool for status.

arthurcolle|5 years ago

I also have a Simple account. Over the last year I started using Chime more, and just had the Simple account because my happy US stimulus checks were getting deposited there.

I also use Mercury for my business stuff. So Chime + Mercury might be a good combo for you, depending on your needs.

tmcpro|5 years ago

Take a look at banknovo.com for your business account. We'd be happy to have you

mrtrash757|5 years ago

I expect that your Azlo account (and mine) will move to BBVA and eventually PNC, like Simple (Personal Digital Bank owned by BBVA). See here: https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/07/bbva-says-that-it-is-shutt...

Azlo did a terrible job of letting us know to be honest, unless they don't know that if it will be part of BBVA or not.

Edit: I got this terrible canned response from Azlo.

"We're still working to understand exactly how this process will take place, and we're sorry that we don't have more to share at this time. That said, please rest assured that your account and experience will not be immediately impacted. We are still working out the timeline details with BBVA USA, but we expect this to be months, not weeks, and we will work with you as we learn how our closure will unfold.

We greatly appreciate your patience and please know that we're very sad about this; helping small businesses and entrepreneurs survive and thrive has brought us nothing but joy and fulfillment and we wish we could continue."

Guess I will be going elsewhere.

dpmdpm|5 years ago

That's what I'm expecting too. I'm holding off on opening an account elsewhere for now, but yeah, would be nice to get clarity.

steadicat|5 years ago

Bummed about this, but there seems to be a plethora of alternatives:

- Rho: https://rho.co/

- Mercury: https://mercury.com/

- Radius Bank: https://radiusbank.com/business/

- BlueVine: https://www.bluevine.com/

- Novo: https://banknovo.com

- Wave Money: https://www.waveapps.com/money

- Brex Cash: https://www.brex.com/product/cash-management-account/

- Wise: https://www.wise.us/

- Relay: https://relayfi.com

Now if only there were a clear way to choose one. If anyone has any tips, I'm all ears.

itsnot2020|5 years ago

I've been very happy with Mercury, possibly the most basic of offerings here compared to all the others but I haven't had any issues and they're constantly improving.

yukinon|5 years ago

Genuinely curious since this is definitely outside of my wheelhouse, what are the reasons why a business might choose to go with one of these startups vs a larger bank, such as Wells Fargo? And at what point does the business outgrow these small startups?

brainsrgdropout|5 years ago

Of the internet-only flavor, I only have experience with Axos, Azlo, and Brex... Huh, four letter banks.

Axos was super slow with set up such that half way through the process I applied to Azlo and got approved in a couple days and went with them instead. Bye.

Brex I used with my first startup beginning in 2018 (having migrated from SVB) and I loved it. There used to be a higher bar for getting an account but looks like they got rid of the $10K minimum. The rewards were pretty good and dunno if they still have it open bc pandemic but the Brex Oval Room (members only club) in South Park was a dope place to work and hang.

Based on prior experience, I'm leaning towards giving Brex a go again unless one of you can convince me otherwise.

chaoxu|5 years ago

What, I just got Azlo account a week ago.

Good thing I've applied for an account with Mercury. Waiting through the long verification process...

But this definitely get me to think twice about using fintech banks. It could get closed down due to an acquisition of their parent bank.

jbkim|5 years ago

Hello! Jason here from Mercury's customer onboarding team. I'm sorry to hear the verification process may be taking some time. I'd love to take a look to see where things are at, and help move thing along, if you'd be able to share your company name/email address (feel free to email us at onboarding@mercury.com). Thank you!

wharlow9|5 years ago

You should check out Novo (banknovo.com). Our application process takes <24 hours if you have all your business docs. If you finished your application today or tomorrow, we could have your account opened by Monday.

brainsrgdropout|5 years ago

I guess we trade upfront convenience/less friction for potential catastrophic collapse on the back end. Depending on your biz it may or may not be worth it although most new founders have few brick and mortar options.

whalesalad|5 years ago

I am a happy customer of Mercury (https://mercury.com)

chrisgoman|5 years ago

Mercury is not approving all applicants for some unknown reason and they can NOT tell me why

tylercubell|5 years ago

What's stopping Mercury or Brex's partner bank from pulling the carpet out from under them too? The bank I switched away from to join Azlo is archaic and frustrating to deal with but I'm having second thoughts creating an account with another banking startup if it might close a few years later. I now have to inconvenience my clients and ask them to update the ACH information they have on file. I have no idea if there will be problems getting my money out either. I never expected this from a bank.

ve55|5 years ago

This is rather strange communication imo, with no timeline provided, no information as to why, or, well, anything. Looks like Stripe atlas still lets you use them as well, so maybe they didn't give others a heads up before this either?

tehwebguy|5 years ago

BBVA is closing US operations. They haven’t had a massive presence here but their NBA card was pretty interesting.

It’s a pretty standard credit card, like 1% back on everything and 3% on NBA purchases. But it was 5% back on everything during the finals and all-star weekend.

Those two weeks were wild, probably ten thousand plus people buying tens of thousands of dollars of Visa & MasterCard gift cards to liquidate via money orders and repeat for a ~3.5% profit.

They changed the rules like a day after the first finals week, $5,000 cap on the 5%. I can’t imagine they had anticipated the magnitude of the response!

Anyway, I generally suggest getting

nikolay|5 years ago

All these virtual banks have one major issue - you can't deposit cash and some businesses do have cash income, unfortunately. Withdrawing cash given the ATM limits is also an issue. Not all cash is bad! I organize festivals and although we heavily advertise that we take credit cards, checks, etc., although it costs us money, 50% of the people still prefer to pay cash. And with these virtual banks, what do I do with it? Deposit it into my personal account and write a check for the same amount to the business?!

ryanzan|5 years ago

You would just convert the cash into a money order, and then deposit it that way. Alternatively, some of these digital banks (like BlueVine) actually do allow you to deposit cash. From BlueVine's website:

"Yes, you can deposit both cash and checks with your BlueVine Business Bank account. Deposit checks anywhere, anytime through our mobile app by taking a photo of your check and deposit cash at 90,000+ retail locations with our partnership with Green Dot. For a list of locations, visit https://www.attheregister.com/locations."

coloradonotary|5 years ago

Azlo, abruptly announced that they were going to be closing shop in the next month or so. They had recently been sold to PNC Bank by BBVA, and employees and customers had been given no advance notice of the impending closure. Novo is the best Azlo alternative on the market for those businesses. Use the link to see why http://bit.ly/BankNovo

dhruvkar|5 years ago

Simple just closed also (BBVA also).

Looks like BBVA is making some changes.

thebiglebrewski|5 years ago

Looks like BBVA is shutting down all of its "startup bank" acquisitions? Simple is also shutting down today.

tehwebguy|5 years ago

Yeah, selling their US operations entirely

greendomer95|5 years ago

Sad... I use Blue Vine also and they have been great and supportive for small business entrepreneurs

brainsrgdropout|5 years ago

Looks interesting. Like that it is based in RWC. THX!

mcintee|5 years ago

Just go with an actual known bank or credit union, to much gamble in these 3rd party entities. I caved in and went with Bank of America, I will eventually switch my business to Navy Federal credit union when I have time to actually go to the credit union

ruffrey|5 years ago

Got the email too. On the one hand it’s nice I guess they wanted to tell people ASAP. On the other hand it’s disconcerting there is no transition plan or information shared. Seems like waiting a few days for that would have been better.

Zshakur|5 years ago

I'm sorry to hear.. I used AZLO for business affairs.. It's very sad to see this happen..This bank was a very good bank. I hate this happen..

graaben|5 years ago

Any idea if another backend bank will pick up these accounts? Would be much easier to stay with Azlo while they sort out their banking partner vs having to completely transition everything.

tmcpro|5 years ago

Try out Novo

[0] https://banknovo.com

ryanzan|5 years ago

Just applied, but to be frank, I'm a bit hesitant given the bad press so far. Can you speak to the improvements you all have made recently to remedy those issues (mostly centered around customer support)?

whitneyosei|5 years ago

I switched to Brext. Happy so far!