Do you Kasasa? It’s a phrase that has been flooding television, radio and billboards in Central Arkansas. The question left in everyone’s mind is “what is Kasasa?” Well, the answer was recently unveiled when Bank of Little Rock and First Arkansas Bank & Trust announced the launch of Kasasa, the most innovative checking accounts in the country. Kasasa is the first and only collection of bank accounts that actually takes an interest in accountholders and pays them to use their account with what interests them most—massive interest, automatic savings and money donated to charity. And, both banks are among the first community financial institutions in the country to offer Kasasa.

“Kasasa is a completely new kind of banking that puts accountholders first by giving them something they actually want. After all, it’s their money so they should benefit the most from it,” says Pete Maris, chairman and CEO of Bank of Little Rock; and Larry Wilson, chairman, president and CEO of First Arkansas Bank & Trust. “It’s time to get off the megabank roller coaster of frustration and choose a Kasasa account from one of America’s finest community banks.”

In its 2008 Banking Study, Fulcrum, a leading provider of database marketing solutions, found that consumers trusted community banks 300 percent to 400 percent more than the top five banks, including Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo & Co, and Wachovia Corp, since acquired by Wells Fargo. Fulcrum expects the gap to widen in 2009. Additional research by BancVue, the creator of Kasasa, reveals that while consumers would prefer to bank with community financial institutions rather than the megabanks, consumers feel they would sacrifice access to products. Kasasa was designed to open peoples’ eyes to the new banking model where no sacrifices are necessary. Bank of Little Rock and First Arkansas Bank & Trust claim that “it’s a win-win because consumers get innovative products and personalized service.”

Bank of Little Rock and First Arkansas Bank & Trust are offering several of the new Kasasa banking products, including Kasasa Cash and Kasasa Saver; First Arkansas Bank & Trust also offers Kasasa Giving:

• Kasasa Cash™ is a free checking account that pays massive interest in cash every month. In addition, Bank of Little Rock offers nationwide ATM fee refunds, while First Arkansas Bank & Trust offers worldwide ATM fee refunds.
• Kasasa Saver™ gives consumers money to help them save with a free saver account that takes the massive interest they earn from their Kasasa Cash account and ATM fee refunds and automatically deposits them into their Kasasa saver account where additional interest is piled on top.
• Kasasa Giving™ is a free checking account that helps consumers to pay it forward by automatically donating the massive interest they earn to a cause they care about. In addition, extra money is donated for every qualified debit card purchase. Kasasa Giving allows contributions to national charities, including American Humane Association, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Stand Up to Cancer, as well as local charities.   

Bank of Little Rock and First Arkansas Bank & Trust say more Kasasa accounts are in the works especially targeted toward those who love stuff from iTunes. More information on Kasasa can be found at http://www.kasasa.com/BankLR or http://www.kasasa.com/FABandT.