Atlantic Federal Credit Union (NJ) Has New Kasasa Cash Checking

About three months ago, Atlantic Federal Credit Union (Atlantic FCU) began offering several Kasasa brand products. The newly added Kasasa Cash Checking account currently earns 3.00% APY on qualifying balances up to $25k. Qualifying balances over $25k earn 0.50% APY, with non-qualifying balances earning 0.05% APY.

The qualification cycle requirements include,

• At least 12 debit card purchases.
• At least one ACH debit or credit transaction.
• Be enrolled in and agree to receive e-Statements.

The Kasasa Cash Checking account has no minimum balance requirement, no monthly service fee, and no minimum opening deposit amount. Nationwide ATM fees will be reimbursed up to $20 (maximum $4.99 withdrawal fee per transaction), if qualifications are met. There is a limit of one account per Social Security number. A free VISA® debit card is issued when the account is opened.

Kasasa Saver Account

A Kasasa Saver account is offered as a companion account to the Kasasa Cash account. Earned cash checking rewards are automatically transferred to the Kasasa Saver account every month. Like the Kasasa Cash Checking account, the Kasasa Saver has no minimum opening deposit requirement. The Kasasa Saver account earns 1.50% APY on qualifying balances up to $50k; qualifying balances over $50k earn 0.50% 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 Reward 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. It’s not Latin.

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.

Excess Share Insurance

Deposits at Atlantic FCU are fully insured up to $500,000: at least $250,000 by the NCUA and $250,000 by Excess Share Insurance, the nation’s largest provider of excess share insurance since 1993.

Members' individual Savings and Share Certificate accounts are insured up to $500,000. IRA accounts are separately insured for $500,000. And for joint accounts, each account holder's interest is added together and insured up to another $500,000.

Availability

Headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey, Atlantic Federal Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) is residency-based, with individuals who live, work, worship, attend school, or regularly do business in Essex or Union County (NJ) eligible to join.

Regardless of where they live, immediate family members (spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, grandchildren, step- and adoptive relations) of current Atlantic FCU members also qualify for membership.

Joining Atlantic FCU and/or opening a Kasasa Cash Checking account can be done online. The lobbies of both New Jersey branches in Kenilworth and West Orange are temporarily closed. The West Orange branch has drive-thru service Monday through Saturday, while the Kenilworth branch can only be contacted by phone (800.222.1329).

Opening and maintaining a Savings Account with $1 minimum balance is required to establish an Atlantic FCU membership.

While listed as participating in both the CO-OP Shared Branch and ATM networks on the CO-OP website, a January 2018 CO-OP press release states,

Effective March 15, 2018 teller services for Shared Branching guests at Atlantic Federal Credit Union will no longer be available. Guest members may continue to use the Kenilworth self-service ATM for transactions.

Credit Union Overview

Atlantic Federal Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 5.84% (excellent) based on December 31, 2019 data. In the past year, Atlantic FCU increased its total non-brokered deposits by $8.54 million, and excellent annual growth rate of 4.62%. Please refer to our financial overview of Atlantic Federal Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 477) for more details.

Atlantic Federal Credit Union is currently New Jersey’s eleventh largest credit union, with more than 18,500 members and assets in excess of $231 million. Established in 1935 by AT&T Western Electric employees, the Credit Union was designed as “a not-for-profit financial cooperative to meet their savings and borrowing needs – an especially formidable task in that depression era.” (FYI - Western Electric supplied equipment to AT&T's long distance and local telephone companies for more than a century.) Atlantic FCU has evolved from a one-company credit union to a financial institution serving the third and seventh largest New Jersey counties (by population).

How the Kasasa Cash Checking 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, Atlantic Federal Credit Union’s Kansas Cash Checking APY* currently shares the top spot The Bank of Denver's Kasasa Cash Checking APY.

The above rates are accurate as of 6/1/2020.

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.