Simple Acquired By BBVA

Banking giant BBVA has purchased Simple, the payments startup, for $117 million in cash. According to Simple, the core premise of the payments platform will remain the same, but they’ll be supported — financially and otherwise — by a global banking group worth $820 billion. It’s a big value proposition by Simple, which instantly upped its ante from a capability and customer service perspective. For now, the original Bancorp-backed accounts will remain the same, but in the future it’s likely much will be shifted over to BBVA. The deal is a win for Simple, who boomed with their initial launch but who have started to lose steam as a company. It seems likely that this will be able to rejuvenate some of the upward growth, and maintain Simple’s presence in the payments community.