Banksimple has just raised $2.9 million in a Series A round to fund their ambitious alternative online banking startup for full-service, fee-free banking. The round includes investments from First Round Capital, IA Ventures and Village Ventures, a collection of industry veterans with extensive startup portfolios.

Banksimple’s mission is to reinvent the way consumers bank, both online and off. In 2011, the startup will offer bankers an online-only banking solution designed to eliminate traditional service fees, provide stellar customer service, offer predictive money management and integrate social media into the system.

The funds will allow Banksimple to forge ahead with crucial banking partnerships that will form the financial backbone of the platform. The money will also help the company finance its initial test run of the service with friends and family before the end of the year.

“To get customer service right for banking, we need to build a technology company,” said CEO Joshua Reich in an interview with Mashable.

Banksimple had previously raised $190,000 from angel investors in a seed round. To date, the startup has raised nearly $3.1 million — money enough to last them through the end of 2011, according to Reich.

Image courtesy of Daniel Y. Go, Flickr

More About: banksimple, funding, series a

For more Business coverage:

• Follow Mashable Business on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Business channel
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

It may not be the most socially acceptable way to check in, but Vlingo has created a way for Android app users to check in on Foursquare with their voices. It’s a speech-to-checkin feature that will save time, even if it does raise a few eyebrows.

With the new app, Android users can speak a simple “check in to [insert place name]” command after tapping the home screen button. The command will prompt Vlingo to automatically pull up the location in question, and other nearby venues, on Foursquare, providing users with a fast alternative to touch-based Foursquare checkins.

Vlingo’s voice-activated Foursquare integration not only includes support for checkins, but also lets users post voice shouts and ask Vlingo, “Where are my friends?,” or “Who’s nearby?” to pull up a list of Foursquare friends who have checked in recently.

Vlingo for Android also supports voice-activated, speech-to-text status updates for Facebook and Twitter.

Unfortunately for those of us with iPhone and BlackBerry devices, our Android-toting friends have the advantage here, but hopefully not for long. Vlingo promises voice checkins for these devices in future releases.

More About: andriod, checkins, foursquare, vlingo

For more Mobile coverage:

• Follow Mashable Mobile on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Mobile channel
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Electronic Arts’ wildly successful Madden NFL franchise has made the leap from the Xbox to Facebook.

The gaming giant has launched Madden NFL Superstars, the company’s second social game since it acquired social game maker Playfish. The company’s first social game, FIFA Superstars, is one of Facebook’s most popular apps with nearly 4 million monthly active users.

Madden NFL Superstars isn’t a port of the popular console games; it’s a completely new experience that utilizes the Madden NFL brand and leverages social gaming’s strengths for a unique Madden experience. Users build a team from 1,500+ available player cards and then pit their rosters against their friends for domination of the football field. Players can even purchase player cards through Playfish’s virtual currency.

Instead of focusing on the micromanagement and play tactics that have made Madden NFL so popular on the console, Madden NFL Superstars focuses on team management by collecting player cards. It’s fantasy football meets Mafia Wars.

EA acquired Playfish to make sure it wasn’t left behind in the social gaming boom. 56 million Americans are playing social games, and that number keeps rising. Zynga, the creators of FarmVille, is already worth over $4 billion and is making millions from virtual goods and online offers.

EA realizes that combining its most-recognized brands with social gaming is a winning proposition; FIFA Superstars is proof. If the trend holds, then Madden NFL Superstars is certain to become a smash hit.

More About: EA, Facebok, facebook, madden, nfl, playfish

For more Entertainment coverage:

• Follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Entertainment channel
• Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad