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

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

Based on the data it collected, CUBG said for long-term relationships, credit unions should focus on top tier money account rates.

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

CUBG found that remote deposit capture and ACH origination represent the best opportunities for credit unions in making the leap forward in more sophisticated products. Just fewer than 90% of those surveyed said they plan to have these products in place within the next three years.

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

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

Credit unions use a variety of business deposit sales techniques with commercial lenders and business development officers being the top two tools.

CUBG said “even with superior systems, credit unions must have the knowledge and resources to take advantage of these capabilities.”

Having a Web presence can be advantageous for credit unions since most small businesses go online to research products and services.