How digital product agility turns into deposit growth for banks and credit unions
Today, account holders expect to be able to open any type of account from anywhere they might be, whether it’s a simple checking account or planning for their future with long-term specialty accounts.
According to Cornerstone and Alkami’s 2026 Digital Banking Performance Metrics, digital checking account openings increased to 21% of total checking account openings, up from 16% the previous year. While checking and savings accounts may be the foundation of digital account opening, they represent only a fraction of the deposit growth opportunity for banks and credit unions.
When certificates of deposit (CDs), individual retirement accounts (IRAs), and other specialty products remain limited to branch-based opening, financial institutions risk losing valuable deposits and deeper account holder relationships to competitors offering a more convenient experience.
As digital adoption continues to grow, financial institutions need account origination technology that supports more than traditional deposit products. They need the flexibility to bring new accounts to market, respond to changing customer and member needs, and capture deposits across every stage of the financial journey.
Growing deposits with specialty accounts
Legacy technology often limits digital account opening to checking and savings. But for financial institutions focused on deposit growth and account holder retention, those products are now table stakes.
The financial institutions building stronger deposit bases and deeper account holder relationships are those with digital banking platforms supporting a broader offering of digitally available accounts and a consistent opening experience across product types. Each of these products tests an institution’s agility differently, whether that’s responding to rate shifts, accommodating unique eligibility rules, or reaching account holders at a specific life stage. Let’s dive deeper into some of the most impactful drivers of growth including CDs, minor accounts, money market accounts, health savings accounts (HSAs), and IRAs.
Certificates of deposit
For many financial institutions, CDs represent an underutilized deposit growth tool. CDs attract higher initial deposits and longer-term funding commitments than checking or savings accounts. Making them accessible online puts them in front of members and customers at the precise moment they’re ready to act.
For example, Credit Union West’s legacy system couldn’t support digital CD opening; members who wanted to open a CD had to visit a branch and originate the account via an employee. After adopting MANTL Onboarding & Account Opening, the credit union was able to make these accounts available and easy to open online with the same convenience as opening a checking or savings account. As a result, account origination increased 4.5x and generated more than $24 million in new deposits.
Alliant Credit Union experienced a similar outcome. Launching new CD products through MANTL Consumer Account Opening allowed them to generate more than $100 million in deposits in less than six months. In both cases, digital access turned demand into deposits.
Minor accounts
Minor accounts offer a different kind of value: relationship longevity. When a parent opens an account for a child at their primary financial institution, that institution gains an account holder who may stay for decades.
Financial Plus Credit Union saw minor account openings increase by more than 23x in just five months after implementing MANTL Onboarding & Account Opening. These results demonstrate the opportunity for financial institutions to make youth-focused products easier for families to access, all while building relationships earlier in an account holder’s financial journey.
Minor accounts are unique because they often intersect with specialty accounts, allowing financial institutions to originate CDs and IRAs for minors, as well as traditional checking and savings accounts. Offering this flexibility to applicants and their families remains a key differentiator in the market today.
Money market
Money market accounts give customers and members a way to earn more on larger balances while maintaining the flexibility of a liquid deposit account. For financial institutions, that makes money markets an important tool for attracting and retaining deposits, as well as deepening relationships with account holders who may be comparing rates at competing institutions.
When money market account opening is limited to just the branch, financial institutions create friction and risk losing valuable deposit opportunities to competitors offering a faster digital experience. MANTL Onboarding & Account Opening helps make specialty deposit products available through a faster, more flexible account opening experience, helping capture deposits when account holder interest is highest. This flexibility also enables institutions to respond more quickly to changing market conditions and deposit demands without adding complexity to the account opening experience.
Health savings accounts
For customers and members managing healthcare expenses, the ability to open a HSA quickly and confidently can be just as important as the account’s long-term tax advantages.
HSAs can introduce more complexity than a standard savings account, including product-specific eligibility requirements, disclosures, and funding workflows. A modern onboarding and account opening solution helps financial institutions bring those requirements into a unified experience instead of forcing applicants into a branch-only process. Customers and members can begin the process digitally, receive the appropriate guidance, and move through verification, funding, and account setup without being required to visit a branch.
IRAs
IRAs offer a natural cross-sell opportunity for existing financial institution relationships. Nearly half of U.S. households held an IRA as of mid-2025. Digital IRA account opening lets banks and credit unions meet that demand, deepen relationships, and keep account holders for the long haul.
Financial institutions that treat digital IRA account opening as a strategic priority simply need a partner that can enable it. When Dupaco Credit Union evaluated account origination platforms, for instance, the ability to offer specialty accounts, including IRAs, in a unified system was a key selection consideration during their buying decision.
The financial institutions poised to be most competitive in this digital-first economy are the ones embracing technology that supports frictionless cross-sell opportunities like retirement accounts.
The technology behind digital specialty account opening
Modern account origination technology enables financial institutions to offer any account type across multiple channels, with automated workflows that seamlessly manage the unique verification and compliance requirements each product requires.
For financial institutions relying on legacy systems, every gap becomes a workaround: a separate workflow to build, another system to reconcile, or another manual review by staff. Employees rekey data, chase documents, and fix errors that are easily avoidable. Each new product adds another layer of complexity, so launches stall and applicants get a different experience depending on which path they take.
Modern solutions change that equation by bringing multiple account types into a unified infrastructure, removing the operational burden that keeps specialty accounts strictly within the branch. Financial institutions can support product-specific requirements while delivering a consistent experience across digital and branch channels. This flexibility gives banks and credit unions greater control over how quickly they introduce products, respond to deposit opportunities, and expand their digital offerings without adding unnecessary operational complexity.
MANTL’s account origination technology is built on that model: a single solution that empowers banks and credit unions to open any account, on any banking channel, in real time. Using MANTL, consumers can open a new deposit account in under five minutes, and businesses can do it in under ten.
Specialty accounts carry different compliance requirements than standard checking and savings products. MANTL supports product-based configurations that help financial institutions tailor each account opening workflow to that specific product. Configurable fraud controls and Know Your Customer (KYC) decisioning can also adapt to the account type, helping institutions apply the appropriate verification and review steps without creating a separate process for every product.
The next phase of digital account opening is about ensuring financial institutions can serve account holders across more of their financial lives – from CDs and money market accounts to IRAs and minor accounts. Every product that becomes available digitally represents another opportunity to capture deposits, strengthen relationships, and meet evolving financial needs.
Digital product agility is becoming a competitive necessity. The financial institutions best positioned for success will be those that can introduce the right products, through the right channels, at the moment account holders need them. Specialty accounts are where agility shows up first, and where it pays off in deposit growth.
How does MANTL handle compliance when opening specialty accounts?
Modern digital account opening solutions like MANTL handle compliance for specialty accounts through configurable product-based settings as well as configurable fraud controls through Know Your Customer (KYC) decisioning that adapts to each product type’s requirements. Specialty accounts carry different compliance requirements. For example, IRAs involve tax status verification and minor accounts require custodial documentation. Identity verification runs through government databases and third-party application programming interfaces (APIs) that meet Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and fraud prevention standards.
How does expanding digital product availability affect primacy?
When members and customers can easily open all of the accounts they need at a single financial institution, it makes it easier to consolidate their entire financial lives with one trusted financial partner. MANTL supports a range of deposit account opening and loan processing, creating a seamless, end-to-end experience across all account holder touchpoints and product needs. It enables financial institutions to serve customers and members holistically, responding to every life event and milestone with relevant products, from personal loans to trust accounts to business checking accounts.
What do members and customers expect from the modern account opening experience today?
Members and customers expect modern account opening to be fast and accessible across any channel. That expectation extends to specialty accounts: a member opening a CD, IRA, or minor account online expects the same speed and ease as opening a checking account. They also expect continuity across channels, with the ability to start an application on a mobile device and complete it in-branch, or vice versa, with data syncing in real time. Financial institutions that deliver this kind of unified digital banking experience retain more applicants and build stronger member relationships earlier.
