Local Banking on a National Scale: Our partnership with Central Bank of Kansas City

Small, local banks are woven into the history of every community across the country. As time has passed, most of those institutions have merged into or been replaced by larger, national banks – losing touch with the local communities where they once operated.

That's why supporting local banks is more important than ever – because their success is tied to the success of their communities. In Kansas City, no bank embodies this ideal more than Central Bank of Kansas City.

Raisin has chosen to partner with Central Bank of Kansas City to bring high-yield savings products to our savers. Here's what makes this bank special.

Chartered in 1950, Central Bank of Kansas City remains a family-owned bank with two locations in the area. The bank is focused on helping low-income individuals, minorities and local small businesses.

Since 1996, the bank has won dozens of CDFI Fund awards for its commitment to reinvesting in the community. Since 2007, Central Bank of KC has been awarded 9 New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) Allocations. The NMTC Program incentivizes community development and economic growth through the use of tax credits that attract private investment to distressed communities. A few years ago, we added a new component to our NMTC projects – we facilitated significant donations to non-profits for NMTC projects that benefited for profit developers. To date, we have facilitated donations nearing $2 million. Giving back is truly ingrained in this bank’s ethos.

In 2015, Central Bank of Kansas City created a “Shark Tank” competition for high school students to pitch their business ideas. Winners received cash prizes to make their dreams a reality. This competition is targeted to urban high school students and is held each year at the Federal Reserve Bank of KC.

The bank also helped create the Money Smart KC program, which provides financial literacy training to individuals and organizations.

Throughout the year, employees from Central Bank of Kansas City participate in charitable events, such as collecting school supplies for children, serving dinner to those with family members in hospice facilities and collecting canned goods for local food banks.

Central Bank of Kansas City offers high-yield savings accounts to its customers. A high-yield savings account provides a higher interest rate than the traditional savings accounts found at most banks.

According to the FDIC, the average interest rate on a savings account is 0.24% APY (as of November 21, 2022). The current interest rate for a high-yield savings account at Central Bank of Kansas City can be found on their website.

Since 1998, Central Bank of Kansas City has been proud to be a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). The CDFI fund is a U.S. Treasury initiative to increase economic opportunity and promote community development investments for underserved populations and in distressed communities in the United States. As a CDFI, Central Bank of KC believes in investing fully into the community.

This designation has been even more crucial since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Low-income communities have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic, so putting money back into these communities is crucial. Many of our small businesses came to the bank for the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in which we made 170 loans for a total of $23 million in a very short amount of time.

Just as you support your favorite local restaurant by purchasing take-out during the pandemic, you can support your community by switching to a local CDFI bank, like Central Bank of Kansas City.

Thousands of banks failed during the Great Depression, leaving customers without their hard-earned savings. In response to that dark moment in history, the government created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insures money deposited in these specific banks. FDIC insurance offers protection on up to $250,000. When a bank is FDIC-insured, it means your money is safe even if the bank fails.

If you’re ready to choose a savings offer from an institution that puts community first, then click here to start saving with the exclusive Raisin savings products offered by Central Bank of Kansas City today.