NORTHEAST, PA —The Dime Bank is promoting a new kind of checking account called “Kasasa Cash,” which offers free checking, with interest payments and other rewards for using the account. The rewards include high interest, cash back, automatic saving or music downloads. According to a press release from Dime, “The Dime Bank’s Kasasa Cash rate is over 50 times higher than the national average for interest-bearing checking accounts.”

The company that created Kasasa accounts, BancVue of Austin, TX, offers the accounts only to credit unions and community banks. On the Kasasa website, it says, “Community banking promotes a healthy balance of financial power. We can all see what happens when too much power is held in the hands of too few people. Consolidation of power in any industry results in less competition and less choice for consumers.”

There are four accounts that offer different features: one has high interest payments for high balances; another offers cash back on debit card purchases; another automatically deposits that cash into a savings account; and one checking account offers free musical downloads.

There are some minimum qualifications for rewards, but many people are probably already reaching those, such as making at least 12 debit-card purchases per month.

The company says about 300 lending institutions offer Kasasa products; half of them are credit unions and half are community banks.

Gary Beilman, president and chief executive officer at The Dime Bank, said in the press release, “Consumers deserve to have a meaningful banking experience, without the nightmare of megabank fees and mistreatment. We are pleased to offer these unique, free accounts to our community. Kasasa delivers what research shows people really want but believe they can’t have—great financial products with the personal service of a community-based financial institution.”