New Kasasa Cash and Saver Accounts with Top Rates at CFSB

It has been awhile since I reviewed a new reward checking account. Most new reward checking accounts haven't been worthy of a blog post due to their disappointing low rates and/or balance caps. This one at Community Financial Services Bank (CFSB) is good enough to make it worthy of a blog post. CFSB's reward checking account isn't really a new account. We have been tracking its rates since 2010. However, the reward checking account name has recently changed from free eRewards Checking account to Kasasa Cash. The bank has also added a linked savings account called Kasasa Saver. Thanks to DA member Pearlbrown who first described this change in this forum thread. Below is a summary of the features of these Kasasa accounts as of 3/14/2013:

Kasasa Cash rates and features if certain monthly requirements are met:

• 3.05% APY on balances up to $20,000
• 0.50% rate on the portion of the balance over $20,000
• 0.10% APY if requirements aren't met
• Nationwide ATM fee refunds (up to $25)

Kasasa Saver rates if certain monthly requirements are met:

• 1.00% APY on balances up to $30,000
• 0.50% rate on portion of balance over $30,000
• 0.10% APY if requirements aren't met

Monthly requirements:

• 12 debit card purchases
• 1 direct deposit or bill pay
• enrolled and log into Online Banking
• enrolled and review e-Statement notice

Both Kasasa accounts are free with no monthly service fees even if the above requirements are not met.

Availability

The bank has an online application for both Kasasa accounts. The application didn't provide any details about who is eligible to open accounts. So I emailed the bank yesterday. I was told that their demographic restrictions only allow them to open accounts online for customers living in Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. Last year the bank used to allow anyone in the nation to apply. So it's possible that the bank will further restrict who can apply. If you hear about new restrictions, please leave a comment.

Bank Overview

The bank's headquarters is located in Benton, Kentucky. It has six branches in and around Benton.

It's not a small bank with $610 million in assets and 172 employees. The bank has an overall health score at DepositAccounts.com of 5 stars (out of 5) with a Texas ratio of 7.42% (excellent) based on December 2012 data. Please refer to our financial overview of CFSB for more details. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 287).

How This Reward Checking Compares

This reward checking account is a better deal than accounts that are nationally available. The best nationally available reward checking account offers 3.25% APY for balances up to $15K. That's at Belvoir Federal Credit Union. The highest rate for a balance cap of at least $20K is 2.12% APY at ABCO Federal Credit Union. This has a $25K balance cap. These rates and balance caps are accurate as of 3/14/2013.

To find reward checking accounts in other areas of the nation, please refer to the reward checking section of DepositAccounts.com. To learn more about reward checking, please refer to this reward checking overview.