A Good Deal

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I don’t often talk about specific Credit Union products and when I do, it’s for good reason. In the past two or three months I have helped the Credit Union on the campaign to launch the Kasasa Reward Checking accounts, which launched last month.

When I first read about them I thought to myself, well, this is a bit complicated. But the more I looked into them, the more appealing they became. Because when you think about them, they are honestly all about rewarding.

I have spoken recently about negative interest rates and why they are in effect in some places. In the United States, while we don’t have negative rates, we are dangerously close. To the everyday consumer like you and I this means virtually no dividends on our savings. There are none to be had, period.

It seems that the Credit Union understands this as well, and has found different ways to reward us for our loyalty. It’s with the Kasasa Free Checking accounts.

There are two of them, Kasasa Cash and Kasasa Cash Back.

Kasasa Cash: this is the one I personally like more. When the account conditions are met (I will tell you about those in a minute but they are actually, honestly, and absolutely easy to meet) in a month, you get an amazing dividend rate on the first $6,000, a rate that beats even the Credit Union’s Share Certificates.

On top of that, if you have incurred any ATM fees in the United States during that month, they refund up to 10 dollars of those. I know that even with the Co-Op Network’s convenience, using other ATMs is uncommon, but if you have the Kasasa accounts that doesn’t even matter, you can use ATMs now and then for convenience rather than locations and know that they have you covered.

Kasasa Cash Back: or as I call it, the shopper’s-best-friend account. It has the same conditions as the Cash account but the rewards vary slightly. The Cash Back account does just what it says; it gives you a percentage of cash back on shopping that you did with your OAS FCU Visa Debit Card, up to $9 a month (that is, in specific numbers, a maximum of 1.5% of the first $600 worth of purchases, to be precise). And it also gives you up to ten bucks’ worth of US ATM fee refunds as well, like the Cash account.

Fees? There must be a fee, right?

Nope, not a single one. I mean it. If you don’t qualify during the month for your rewards, that’s it, you don’t get them. But there is no fee if you don’t qualify, nor any type of maintenance fee. And if you don’t meet the conditions one month it isn’t the end of the world, next month the account gets reset and you get to try again. Even the interest rate when you don’t meet the conditions on the Cash account is the same as the Credit Union’s share draft dividend rate.

So, what’s the catch?

I can’t really say that there is one. There are conditions that you need to meet, but most people do most of these things every month and don’t give it any thought. But here’s the list:

Electronic debits, credits (known as ACH) or direct deposits. You need to have an electronic debit or credit each qualifying period (which is just about the month’s length, but if you want to get tweaky, here’s the specific qualifying period information). Things that qualify? Direct deposit of payroll or Social Security, if you have a Visa credit card from the credit union and have it on automatic monthly payment, that qualifies –if you don’t I suggest you contact Ruben at the Credit card department and set one up- or if you pay your Visa yourself using the ezCardInfo, that’s a direct debit, too. But if you have no credit card with the Credit Union, any automatic payments that you make to other companies will go via Ach and qualify you. And you only need one of these.

eStatements. You need to be enrolled to receive eStatements. When I think of this as a condition I really chuckle, because in this day and age receiving paper statements is so counterproductive that to me it stopped being funny a while ago. For one, statements in paper can be intercepted by criminals who seek to steal your money, either directly from your account or with identity theft. Secondly… the environmental waste of printing on paper, using envelopes, paying for stamps and mailing the things is just mind-boggling. Please, this is my personal plea to you. Go paperless and help the planet; and if you go with Kasasa, help your wallet, too.

Debit Card usage. This one might be tricky for some people but it just takes getting used to using your Debit Card more and your checkbook less. The condition is that you will make ten purchases a month using your Credit Union Debit Card (purchases for which there is money in your account *cough, cough!*).If you’re a check writer, again, think of the planet and get used to paying with your card instead of checks, and you’ll be helping everyone, yourself included. Say you go to the grocery store five times a month (conservative guess), pay for lunch or dinner out twice and then, fill up the car, go to the movies, do a bit of online shopping… there, you’d have 10 uses of your Debit Card.

What if I live abroad? These accounts won’t work for me, will they?

Actually, the Kasasa accounts, especially the Cash Back one, will work for members abroad, too. Many people have their payroll directly deposited at the Credit Union even if they live abroad, so that one condition can be met. Or if you have a credit card from the Credit Union and pay it automatically, you’re set, too. You may not qualify for the refund of U.S. ATM fees, but $9 cash back a month on debit card purchases is a pretty penny. Just use the card to shop instead of taking money out of ATMs and you can get your 10 purchases a month.

And that’s it. I’m done. 

Oh wait, one more thing. This is how you sign up!

You’re welcome.

And now I’m off to midsummer!