The Credit Union Deposit Strategy You Need in 2025: 4 Moves That Drive Growth

The deposit landscape has changed, dramatically.

Following the Federal Reserve’s rapid rate hikes in 2022, business depositors became more rate-sensitive, triggering intense competition across financial institutions. Credit unions, once riding a wave of near 20% deposit growth in 2021, saw that number drop to under 5% by 2024.

In 2025, while deposits are slowly rebounding, the recovery is not fast enough to support aggressive loan growth. The result? Credit unions must rethink how they grow and manage deposits, especially commercial deposits, to remain financially resilient and competitively positioned.

Four Strategic Priorities Better Deposit Management

1. Prioritize Commercial Deposit Growth: Business deposits serve as a critical source of stable funding and provide a natural offset to commercial lending risk. Institutions should require deposit relationships as part of the commercial loan onboarding process, align treasury service offerings, and structure relationship packages that reward total engagement across products and balances.
2. Optimize Balance Mix and Apply Pricing Discipline: Strategic management of deposit composition is essential. Institutions are increasingly targeting operating accounts with transactional activity and limiting exposure to high-cost, rate-driven funds. Pricing models should segment accounts by behavior, balance level, and tenure to ensure pricing aligns with relationship value.
3. Proactively Manage Maturities and Rate-Sensitive Funds: With a growing number of CDs, sweep, and money market accounts reaching maturity, institutions must engage proactively. While business members expect competitive returns, pricing decisions should reflect the broader context of the relationship. Differentiated renewal strategies based on depth of engagement help preserve balances while managing interest expense.
4. Implement Relationship-Based Pricing: Leading credit unions are adopting pricing models that consider the full member relationship—including deposits, loans, and non-interest income from treasury services such as ACH, RDC, and wire transfers. This approach enhances member retention, reduces pricing arbitrage, and supports long-term profitability.

Margin compression and liquidity challenges will persist regardless of the interest rate cycle. Credit unions that move beyond reactive, rate-based pricing and adopt a deliberate, relationship-centric deposit strategy will be better positioned to grow funding, deepen member engagement, and sustain balance sheet strength.

If your institution needs help developing a commercial deposit or treasury pricing strategy, reach out to Tru Treasury. We specialize in helping credit unions launch and scale treasury services that attract stable deposits, deepen business relationships, and fuel long-term growth.