Online Startup Simple Acquired by Spanish Bank for $117M

Simple, the online bank that sought to change banking, has been bought by a bank.

Spain's second-largest bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), has acquired the financial startup for $117 million in cash, the two companies announced on Thursday. Simple CEO Joshua Reich wrote in a blog post that the company would operate "as a separate business within the BBVA structure, operating in parallel with BBVA’s existing US banking operations" and that the leadership at the company would not change.

"Working with BBVA gives us the resources, scale, and autonomy we need to accelerate our growth while staying true to our mission," Reich wrote. Read more...