KS StateBank Reviews: Checking, Savings, CD, Money Market, and IRA Accounts

Although this bank is still relatively small — it’s the 454th biggest bank in the nation — it is a relatively solid financial institution. It received an A+ rating on the Texas Ratio scale (a measure of the bank’s capital versus its loans), and it has $1.9 billion in assets.

KS StateBank offers a wide range of loan products including home loans, personal loans and business accounts. In this review, however, we’ll be discussing its deposit accounts. We’ll tell you whether they’re worth their salt, and if they are worth keeping, what you need to know to get the most out of them.

KS StateBank’s Most Popular AccountsAPY

Account Type

Account Name

Compare Rates from Similar Accounts

0.50%

Savings

KS StateBank Simple Savings

1.85%

Goldman Sachs Bank USA High-yield Online Savings Account

on Goldman Sachs Bank USA’s secure website

2.40%

CD Rates

KS StateBank 1 Year CD

2.50%

Ally Bank High Yield 12-Month CD

on Ally Bank’s secure website

3.10%

CD Rates

KS StateBank 3 Year CD

2.70%

Synchrony Bank 36 Month CD

on Synchrony Bank’s secure website

3.37%

CD Rates

KS StateBank 5 Year CD

3.10%

Goldman Sachs Bank USA High-yield 5 Year CD

on Goldman Sachs Bank USA’s secure website

KS StateBank’s checking account

KS StateBank’s savings account

KS StateBank’s CD rates

KS StateBank’s money market account

KS StateBank’s IRA account options

Overall review of KS StateBank’s banking products

You can earn a very good rate on your checking account if you meet qualifications. But if you can’t, no worries — it’s still free.APY

Minimum Balance Amount

1.90%

Up to $25,000 (but only if qualifications are met)

0.50%

Over $25,000 (but only if qualifications are met)

*If you don’t meet the qualifications, you may still earn interest, but with a smaller rate.

If you’re looking to earn the best rate possible on your money in a checking account, this should definitely be one account to take a close look at. You’ll need to meet three qualifications each month:

If you can do that, you’ll earn the high interest rate and be eligible to receive up to $25 in ATM surcharge fee reimbursements each month. If not, you won’t earn the high interest rate or receive the ATM fee reimbursements, but you still will earn a smaller (but still decent) rate for a checking account.

There aren’t any monthly fees if you can’t meet the monthly requirements, which means that this account is entirely free (from monthly fees, at least). Make sure to keep this account open for at least 90 days after you open it, otherwise you’ll face a $25 early account-closing fee.

Unfortunately, you can only apply for the Checking PLUS account if you’re a resident of Kansas, Missouri, or Arizona. You can still apply for KS StateBank’s other accounts if you live in other states; just not this account.

If you’re a resident of one of the eligible states and over age 18, you can apply for an account online in just a few minutes. You’ll also need to provide your Social Security number and a valid ID.

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This account doesn’t earn the highest rate, but it’s no-fuss and easy to maintain.APY

Minimum Balance Amount

0.50%

$0.01

As long as you have at least $100 in your pocket (or $20 if you’re a minor), you can open this account. Once it’s open, you can drop the balance down as low as you like without suffering any consequences — a nice feature, especially if you’re saving up for one big, shiny purchase and may eventually liquidate the account.

As with all savings accounts, you’re limited to just six withdrawals per month (not including ATM or in-person withdrawals). If you go over that amount, you’ll pay a $5 per-transaction fee. In addition, you agree to receive E-Statements with this account. If you prefer paper copies instead, you’ll pay a $2 monthly fee.

If you’re over age 18 and a U.S. citizen, you can open this account online regardless of where you live. However, if you’re under age 18, you’ll have to visit a local branch to open this account.

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These CDs offer an excellent rate and have a low minimum deposit requirement.Term

APY

1 year

2.40%

2 years

2.85%

3 years

3.10%

4 years

3.29%

5 years

3.37%

7 years

3.39%

These CDs are definitely worth a second glance if you’re looking to lock down a good interest rate, and especially if you don’t have a huge deposit to put away. With a minimum deposit of just $500, almost anyone who’s been saving for a little while should be able to afford these CDs.

A further benefit of these CDs is that you can use them as collateral for a KS StateBank loan. This may help to lower your interest rate and save you even more money, or allow you to get a loan in the first place if your credit score isn’t quite up to par yet. You can also choose to receive interest paid out quarterly via a check, or have it deposited back into another account of your choice.

If you do happen to have really deep pockets, you can also choose to open up these CDs through KS StateBank’s CDARS program. This allows you to receive FDIC coverage on balances larger than the standard $250,000 limit.

When your CD matures, it’ll automatically renew for the same term. You do get a 10-day grace period to make any changes to the CD or withdraw the money.

You can open these CDs online as long as you’re a U.S. resident and over 18 years of age. You’ll need your driver’s license, Social Security number, and date of birth.

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You can bump up your rate once per term with this CD.Term

APY

27 months

2.75%

Interest rates seem to be rising these days, and it might make you a little leery to lock your money away for so long considering these rises. With this CD, however, you do get the option of increasing your interest rate once during its term if the published rate for this CD increases. To do this, either call KS StateBank, visit a local branch, or send them a secure message through the Online Banking platform.

Interest earned on this CD will be tallied up and credited to you quarterly. If you open the CD online, you only have one option for handling interest payments: they’ll automatically be rolled back into the CD account. If you open this CD in a local branch, you also get the option to receive quarterly interest checks mailed to you, but keep in mind that if you do this you may earn less than the advertised APY.

Once your CD matures it’ll be automatically renewed, but for a different CD: a 3 year regular Choose Your Term CD. If you want to change this, you have a 10-day period to withdraw the money and/or change the CD type, if you wish.

You can open this account online or by visiting a local branch. The online option is probably the simplest, but remember that you can’t opt for quarterly interest checks to be mailed to you if you do this.

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These Jumbo CDs actually offer the same rates as KS StateBank’s regular CDs.Term

APY

1 year

2.40%

18 month

2.65%

2 years

2.85%

3 years

3.10%

4 years

3.29%

5 years

3.37%

Normally, jumbo CDs offer higher rates to folks who deposit a larger amount of cash. Strangely, that’s not the case with these accounts, however. That means that there really isn’t any functional difference between opening one of these Jumbo CDs versus KS StateBank’s regular Choose Your Term CDs.

These CDs also have the same maturity policies. When the CD reaches the end of its span, it’ll automatically be renewed into another CD of the same term length. You’ll get a 10-day grace period to make any withdrawals or changes to the CD without penalty.

As the name suggests, you can only open these CDs online. You’ll need a valid ID, Social Security number, and need to be a U.S. resident age 18 or older.

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Furthermore, the minimum deposit amount is low for these CDs, making them accessible to almost anyone. It even offers an uber-long 7 year CD in case you really want to earn the highest rates possible.

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You can earn a higher rate if you have a very large amount of cash with KS StateBank’s Advantage Money Market account.APY

Minimum Balance Amount

0%

$0-$2,499

0.75%

$2,500-$24,999

1.00%

$25,000-$99,999

1.25%

Over $100,000

Currently you can earn just as much with KS StateBank’s Simple Savings account as you can with this money market account, up until a deposit amount of $25,000. After that, it makes more sense to use this account instead if you want to earn a higher rate while still being able to access your money at any time.

This account also comes with federal Regulation D rules that limit how often you can make withdrawals out of the account. You can make six withdrawals per month — excluding in-person or ATM withdrawals — for free. After that, you’ll have to pay $5 for each withdrawal, and if you abuse these privileges enough, KS StateBank may close your account.

If you want the account to remain free, you need to make sure you’re signed up for electronic statements. If you want monthly paper statements, there’ll be a $2 monthly fee.

You can open this account online quite easily if you’re a U.S. citizen and over 18 years of age. You’ll need a valid ID such as a driver’s license and your Social Security number.

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Otherwise, if you’re looking for a local bank to keep your money with, KS StateBank may not be a bad option depending on what other banks are near you.

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These are the same accounts as KS StateBanks’ regular CDs, just within the framework of an IRA.Term

APY

1 year

2.40%

2 years

2.85%

3 years

3.10%

4 years

3.29%

5 years

3.37%

7 years

3.39%

You can open any of KS StateBank’s regular Choose Your Term CDs as IRA CDs, with the exception of the Internet Only Jumbo CD Specials. But as we’ve already discussed, its jumbo CDs really don’t offer anything different from its normal CDs, so there’s nothing holding you back from depositing a large sum of money in these accounts anyway.

You can open these CDs as either a Traditional or a Roth IRA — whichever you prefer.

When the CD matures, it’ll automatically roll over into another CD of the same type. You do get a 10-day grace period to make any changes to the CD or move the money to a different retirement account. Keep in mind that the IRS governs withdrawals out of all IRAs. If you make an early withdrawal (i.e., before retirement age) and don’t roll it over into a new IRA, you could be responsible for paying a penalty and/or taxes on the money you withdraw.

The only way to open an IRA or IRA CD with KS StateBank is to visit them in person. You cannot open these accounts online, unfortunately.

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We’re a fan of KS StateBank’s checking account, CDs and IRA CDs. These accounts offer very high rates — some of which can’t be beat elsewhere — and have very consumer-friendly policies.

For example, select CDs require just a small $500 investment to get started. In another example, if you don’t meet the requirements for the checking account’s high interest rate for a given month, you simply won’t earn that high interest rate. You won’t be lambasted with any outrageous monthly fees or penalties, and you’ll still get to earn a bit of interest.

Overall we recommend KS StateBank for folks looking for a great local bank to work with. Even if you’re not local, it’s definitely worth looking into KS StateBank further if you’re interested in saving with CDs (but not IRA CDs, unfortunately, since you can’t open those online).

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