Although the Federal Reserve has raised short-term interest rates several times over the past two years, banks and credit unions have resisted raising deposit rates to match, primarily because consumers remain unmotivated by the rate environment.

That was one of the main findings in Raddon’s Annual Deposit Study, a “state of the industry” analysis on the depositing and investing habits, expectations and behaviors of the American consumer public.

The three main trends from the study are that consumers are not noticeably tracking deposit rates, consumers require a significant premium to take action and that consumers save for a variety of reasons.

According to the study, only 7 percent of Americans are actively tracking interest rates and will move their money to a new institution to get a better interest rate. That’s basically the same percentage as the 8 percent who said they were tracking rates in 2007, when the federal funds rate was close to 5 percent, unlike the 1.16 percent at the time of the survey.

Another 32 percent watch rates, but rarely find a rate that is worth their trouble to switch, another similar percentage to 2007. Even among the largest depositors, those with at least $50,000 in deposits at all institutions, only 16 percent actively track rates and will move.

One would have expected the long-term low-rate environment to have quickened enthusiasm, but that has not happened for America’s depositors – simply being a few hundredths of a percent higher than the competition will not ensure new funds.

First, 41 percent of consumers will not move their funds to a new institution for any price, implying that they are placing higher value on non-price attributes like convenience, service quality, availability or technology. Second, only 11 percent will move for anything less than a 1 percent increase.  Notably, nearly double that number (19 percent) would move to a new account at the same institution, showing the risk of cannibalization in the search for new funding.

Financial institutions, according to the study, could consider a strategy of special new products to attract new dollars and retain at-risk money while maintaining their floor rates for those customers who value your institution for reasons beyond price.

It is increasingly clear that while the community banking and credit union industries have done well in understanding consumer rationale for borrowing, there is not the same level of comfort for saving.

For example, a customer does not want to get a mortgage: They want to buy a home. No one seeks out an auto loan: They want to buy a car.

Consumers are clear about why they want to save, and none of those reasons have to do with “opening a deposit product.”  Thirty-nine percent of consumers want extra funds for emergency purposes, a percentage that jumps to 44 percent for Millennials.  Twenty-six percent want money for retirement; for Baby Boomers that number is 32 percent.