How do credit unions know how well their business depositprograms are doing? To offer a gauge, CU Business Group LLC's newBusiness Deposit Benchmarking Survey collected data from 41 creditunions in asset sizes ranging from $100 million to $4.5billion.

Credit unions still have much ground to cover when it comes tothe number of business checking accounts that are opened eachmonth, said CUBG President/CEO Larry Middleman.

Based on the data it collected, CUBG said for long-termrelationships, credit unions should focus on top tier money accountrates.

Credit unions with more than $300 million in assets experiencedhigher fee income on business checking accounts.

CUBG found that remote deposit capture and ACH originationrepresent the best opportunities for credit unions in making theleap forward in more sophisticated products. Just fewer than 90% ofthose surveyed said they plan to have these products in placewithin the next three years.

At 80%, the majority of of survey participants currently offermerchant bank cards.

The number of business checking accounts used by members isrelatively small, CUBG found.

Credit unions use a variety of business deposit sales techniqueswith commercial lenders and business development officers being thetop two tools.

CUBG said “even with superior systems, credit unions must havethe knowledge and resources to take advantage of thesecapabilities.”

Having a Web presence can be advantageous for credit unionssince most small businesses go online to research products andservices.