Credit unions are having a tough time keeping up with some ofthe benefits offered by online savings accounts, according to anew study byGoBankingRates.com, a personal finance website that claims morethan 2 million unique impressions each month.

The study noted that online savings accounts and certificates ofdeposit (CDs) offer significantly higher yields and require lowerminimum deposits, on average, than banks and credit unions offeringtraditional, offline accounts, the study said.

Online savings account rates are 618 percent higher and onlineCDs are 58 percent higher than traditional versions of the sameproducts, according to the study. However, conventional checkingand money market accounts offer equal or higher yields and lowerminimum deposits than online versions of the accounts, on average,said GoBankingRates.

To compete with online savings options, the company said, agrowing number of traditional, brick-and-mortar banks and creditunions now provide online-only accounts in addition to theirconventional options — but with the option to visit abranch.

Here are other key findings from the study:

• Average minimum deposit requirements for online savings accountsare 55 percent less than that of traditional savings accounts.

• Average minimum deposit requirements for online CDs are 50percent less than that of traditional CDs.

• Checking account yields are the same across online andtraditional banking options and only vary slightly ($154) in termsof minimum deposit required.

The study, comparing online and traditional minimum depositrequirements and interest rates on savings, checking, money marketand CD accounts, was compiled using the GoBankingRates.comdatabase, which is powered by Informa Research Services, Inc., andaggregates interest rates from more than 4,000 local, national andonline financial institutions, the company said.

Last month, the company, owned by ConsumerTrack Inc., launched anew product, GoBankingRatesLocal, designed to help credit unions and otherfinancial institutions entice new account holders through locallytargeted personal finance content and interest rate data.