How Does a Reward Checking Account Work? 

Your checking account works hard, paying bills, processing your paycheck, making automatic debits, and handling all those daily card purchases. Wouldn’t it be great to get something back for all that clicking, swiping, and tapping? Forward-thinking banks and credit unions now offer reward checking accounts that offer valuable perks for all that loyalty.

Work Hard, Get Paid With a Reward Checking Account

Your checking account is your personal financial clearing house, the place where you get paid and where you handle expenses through automatic bill pay, direct debits, and of course your debit card transactions. If you’re lucky, you might earn a little interest on your rapidly fluctuating balance, but most checking accounts seem to be all about paying other people back– not you.

While it’s great to have everything in one place, it’s hard not to wonder about the cash back and other perks you could earn by pushing more of your payments through a reward checking account.

Smart banks and credit unions have started thinking the same way and some now offer a reward checking account that offers cash back or other benefits. 

How Does a Reward Checking Account Work?

Reward checking accounts offer various perks for maintaining your account and using it to make payments. These typically take the form of:

• Higher dividends on your balance

• Cash-back on debit card transactions

• Rebates on ATM fees

While this sounds like a great deal, it’s important to evaluate any rewards you might receive against the fees or charges many financial institutions levy on every checking account holder. Getting cash back on every transaction might not count for much if you need to pay a monthly fee to maintain your account or if you regularly need to pay for out-of-network ATM fees.

A reward checking account might end up cramping your style if you need to maintain a high minimum balance or if you only earn cash back on certain categories of spending. So it’s important to check the fine print about the charges as well as the perks.

With a little research it’s possible to find reward checking accounts that offer both generous rewards, little-to-zero monthly fees, or no minimum balance requirements. Heritage Community Credit Union’s Kasasa Cash Back checking account, for example, offers:

• Generous cash back rewards and up to $25 a month in ATM fee refunds

• No monthly maintenance fee or minimum balance

• No category restrictions on purchases

Who Are the Best Candidates for a Reward Checking Account?

A reward checking account works well for anyone who uses a debit card to pay a large share of their day-to-day expenses and uses ATMs for regular cash withdrawals—so that’s a lot of us! Provided you can meet any qualifying criteria, you stand to earn maximum benefits from cash back on your debit card transactions as well as rebates on your out-of-network ATM cash withdrawals.

On the other hand, a reward checking account might not work well if you use a credit card for most of your day-to-day spending, especially if you also earn cash-back rewards or other valuable perks on your card. 

Higher-end credit cards still often offer superior rewards compared to most reward checking accounts, but they often come with a hefty annual fee plus, of course, high-interest rates!

Remember also that a reward checking account like Heritage’s Kasasa Cash Back account also includes all the benefits of a full-service financial relationship, including personal service and access to credit, savings accounts, and loans. Let’s take a closer look.

Earn Rewards and More With Kasasa Cash Back Checking

Heritage Credit Union offers members with Kasasa Cash Back checking accounts up to $8 back every month on up to $400 in purchases. You’ll also qualify for refunds on ATM withdrawal fees nationwide. Your free cash-back checking account also includes:

• No minimum balance to earn rewards

• No monthly maintenance fee

• Visa Debit Card

• eStatements (required)

• Online Banking and Bill Pay

• Mobile Banking and Mobile Deposit

How Do I Sign Up?

Ready to start earning rewards for all the purchases and payments you’re already making? Qualifying for Kasasa Cash Back reward checking account is easy. You simply need to:

• Become a qualifying Heritage Credit Union member

• Open a Kasasa Cash Back checking account with an initial deposit of as little as $25

Then, just be sure to use your Kasasa Cash Back account each month to:

• Log into Online Banking

• Make at least 12 debit card purchases, with NO category restrictions!

Click below to learn more about how a Heritage Community Credit Union Cash Back reward checking account can help you earn the rewards you deserve!

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