Sunmark Credit Union (NY) Adds Kasasa Cash Checking

Sunmark Credit Union (Sunmark) expanded its product line in December when it began to offer Kasasa Brand accounts. The Kasasa Cash Checking earns 3.00% APY on qualifying balances up to $25k. Qualifying balances over $25k earn 0.40%, with non-qualifying balances earning 0.05% APY.

The qualification cycle requirements are standard and include,

• At least 12 debit card purchases.
• At least one direct deposit, ACH payment, or bill pay transaction.
• Be enrolled in and agree to receive monthly e-Statements.

The Kasasa Cash account has no minimum balance requirement or monthly service fee, and requires a low $20 minimum opening deposit. Nationwide ATM fees will be reimbursed up to $25 per statement cycle, if qualifications are met. There is a limit of one account per Social Security number. A free MasterCard® debit card is issued when the account is opened.

Kasasa Saver Account

A Kasasa Saver account can be linked to the Kasasa Cash checking account and can be opened with a $0.01 minimum deposit. Each month, earned cash checking rewards automatically transfer to this account. The Kasasa Saver account earns 1.50% APY on qualifying balances up to $150k; qualifying balances over $150k earn 0.40% APY, with non-qualifying balances earning 0.05% APY.

The Kasasa Brand

For those not familiar with the Kasasa brand, Kasasa Cash is a type of Rewards Checking Account (RCA) developed by the Texas company, Kasasa, Ltd. According to the Kasasa website,

On an everyday level, Kasasa is free checking that rewards you each month for doing simple things you might already do. "Simple" as in banking basics that actually save you time. Like choosing e-statements over paper statements, or swiping your debit card at checkout instead of writing a check.

Ever wondered what the word “Kasasa” means? It’s not Greek, or Latin, or even Klingon (as one DA reader suggested).

Put simply, we made it up.
In a world where real-life people are too often taken for granted as account
numbers, we didn’t want to be the next [INSERT GENERIC NAME] checking account.

Availability

Headquartered in Latham, New York, Sunmark Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) has expanded substantially since I last wrote about them in 2015: the number of counties included has more than doubled. Individuals who live, work, worship, attend school, own a business, or volunteer in the New York counties of Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren, or Westchester are eligible to join.

Family members of current Sunmark members or membership-eligible individuals also qualify for membership, regardless of where they live.

Employees of more than 250 Community Business Partners (listed on the online application) are also eligible to join. Following the conversion from a federal charter to a state charter,

Sunmark will also be able to serve persons that belong to a business or association that has signed up with Sunmark to make membership available to its employees or association members outside of New York State.

The three largest Community Business Partners that the “outside of New York State” option applies to are the U.S. Government, the U.S. Postal Service, and the VA Hospital System.

Joining Sunmark and/or opening a Kasasa Cash Checking account can be done online or in-branch. Eight of 14 New York branches have re-opened, three are still temporarily closed, and three only have drive-thru service. Sunmark’s Current Branch Status page provides the most up-to-date information.

A Sunmark savings account offers more than a return on your savings; it opens the doors
to all the benefits of banking with Sunmark! Open this account with as little as $.01.

Sunmark is a member of the CO-OP Shared Branch network, which gives members access to over 5,000 nationwide credit union branches and over 2,000 self-service locations.

Credit Union Overview

Sunmark Credit Union has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 11.43% (above average) based on December 31, 2019 data. In the past year, Sunmark has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $86.7 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 16.89% APY. Please refer to our financial overview of Sunmark Credit Union (NCUA Charter #1884) for more details.

Sunmark Credit Union was established in 1937 as the Schenectady General Electric Turbine Department's Federal Credit Union. In 1983, the name was shortened to Turbine Federal Credit Union and soon after, two additional branch offices were opened in Glenville. Following the 2020 adoption of the Sunmark brand, membership was opened to all residents of New York’s Capital Region.

Effective January 1, 2020 Sunmark received final approval from federal and state regulators to convert from a federal to a state-chartered credit union. Additionally, a vote of the Sunmark membership was held and the conversion officially approved. Sunmark updated its name to Sunmark Credit Union.

The newly rebranded Sunmark Credit Union currently has more than 62,000 members and assets in excess of $740 million.

How the Kasasa Cash Compares

When compared to the High Yield Rewards Checking Accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available within the FOM and have maximum qualifying balances of at least $25k, Sunmark Credit Union’s Kansas Cash APY* currently shares the top spot The Bank of Denver's Kasasa Cash Checking APY.

The above rates are accurate as of 5/30/2020.

To search for the best Reward Checking Account rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our High Yield Reward Checking Account Rates Table page.

*We continue to work to keep our rates up-to-date, but there have been just too many rate cuts for us to process quickly. For the time being, please be aware that the rates listed at DepositAccounts.com may not reflect the latest rates published by the banks and credit unions.