Blog

How do small community banks and credit unions compete with The Big Banks? They “Kasasa” of course. 
 
Kasasa is the brand name for a suite of bank accounts and marketing services offered by parent company BancVue .

Formerly sold to banks as a REWARDChecking product to be private labeled, BankVue has since modified that business model to offer a new suite of bank products nationally, marketed to small community financial institutions under a single national brand, Kasasa.  The offerings include:

-Kasasa Cash – A checking account that pays a higher-than-average interest rate.

-Kasasa Saver – An interest-bearing savings account where ATM refunds and interest earned in the Kasasa Cash account are automatically deposited.

-Kasasa Giving – A high-interest checking account that directs earned interest to the accountholder’s selected charity. In addition, extra money is donated with every qualified debit card purchase.

-Kasasa Tunes – Every month consumers earn free iTunes downloads, usually in lieu of earning interest on their checking balances.

In this time of fierce competition for customers and deposits, it may seem odd that small financial institutions would actually team up. But analysts suggest that cooperation like this on a national scale will allow smaller banks to compete big time with bigger banks.

While some may question this business model and the brand’s name, don’t tell that to the 11 participating financial institutions, who may just be laughing all the way to the bank given the early results.

As outlined in The Financial Brand, participating financial institutions are reporting positive numbers thanks to Kasasa:

-First Arkansas Bank & Trust increased gross new checking account openings per month by 150%.

-Countybank doubled accounts and deposit dollars in an expansion market in less than four months (which took three years prior to launching Kasasa).

-Legence Bank reported an 81% increase in accounts per month, 70% of which are new customers.

Oh, what about the name Kasasa? BankVue CMO Susan Sierota said, “They wanted something with fun energy that could be either a noun or verb…one that had no meaning so Bancvue could build its own meaning behind it.”

If early results are any indication, “Kasasa” to a small bank may mean, “Hey Big Bank, eat my virtual dust!”