Update 11/21/22: Rate increased to 4.33%.
Update: Interest rate dropped to 2.02% APY on $15K as of 4/6/21
Offer at a glance
- Interest Rate:Â 4.07%
- Minimum Balance:Â None listed
- Maximum Balance:Â $15,000
- Availability:Â AR & MS
- Direct deposit required:Â Not required
- Additional requirements:Â See below
- Hard/soft pull:Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding:Â Unknown
- Monthly fees:Â None
- Insured:Â FDIC
The Offer
- First Financial Bank offers a free Kasasa cash checking account. This offers an APY of 4.07% on balances up to $15,000 when the requirements are met (0.05% APY when not met). The requirements are as follows (must meet these every monthly qualification cycle):
- At least 12 debit card purchases
- Be enrolled in and agree to receive eStatements
- Be enrolled in and log into online banking
The Fine Print
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Rate History
- November 27th, 2017 – Current: 4.07%
- January 1st, 2015 – November 27th, 2017: 2%
- January 30th, 2013 – December 30th, 2014: 3%
Avoiding Fees
This account has no monthly fees. In addition you also receive ATM withdrawal fee refunds on any ATM transactions made within the USA when you meet the requirements for the 4.07% APY rate.
Our Verdict
It’s rare to see a rate this high, that also offers a high maximum balance and no direct deposit requirement. I honestly don’t expect this one to last that long, but rates are on the rise so I might be wrong. There are still better accounts like the Insight 5% APY/$5,000 so I’d max those out first but for those that are already doing that this adds a lot of extra capacity at a good rate. You can view the best savings rates here. First Financial Bank uses the same qualification dates for every customer, they have the 2017 dates here. I’ll update this post once they add the 2018 dates.
As always please share your own experiences in the comments below.
can someone explain to me why would i go with a CD if there are high yield savings accounts offering the same APY? not understanding
– The CD APY won’t change during its term, but the Savings account interest rate can be changed anytime unless the bank has said it’s fixed for a certain period; banks usually give me a month advance notice but not always.
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– CD funds aren’t liquid like a Savings account.
– You might choose the CD if you want the money off limits from you until it matures. I have some CD’s that’ll mature in time to pay off my maxed out 0% APR credit cards before the 0% period ends.
Received an email this morning advertising 6.00% APY for these. Also showing on their website.
Years ago (2017?), we were able to open these by phone/mail in an AR town not near a branch.
Same here. I withdrew most everything several months ago because was only @ 2%. Came back in January? when I saw it was 4%. Now topped it off to 15000.
Interest rate dropped to 2.02% APY on $15K as of 4/6/21
William Charles Update the ‘4.07% APY’ in title?
https://www.ffb1.com/personal/personal-checking/free-kasasa-cash-checking.html
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Been enjoying the 4.07% for some time, but looks like they slipped in a rate reduction in Sept ‘2020 from 4.07% to 3.04%. No notice.
OOS DP. Tried my luck applying out of state but no dice. They emailed me after it went pending that for now they are not approving OOS applications, but may consider me in the future when they do.
Does anyone know if transactions can be online purchases and if there’s a minimum amount of each debit card transaction to qualify for this Kasasa Cash account? Thank you.
I recently joined this bank but I don’t see where I can do external ACH transfers to other banks on online banking. Is this not possible?
You have to do the pull from your other bank. Some banks are weird to not have that functionality
No hard pull for me online (Zip Code 39705)
was that your mailing zip as well?