Since credit unions have a history of trumping banks with rates, it will be interesting to see how far cooperatives go to beat banks as rates start to soar. But is it always smart to topple bank rates?

Setting extremely high deposit rates or low interest rates can draw new members, but credit unions should take many factors into consideration before plunging into the deep end of the pool, Steve Rick, chief economist at CUNA Mutual Group, said. Before setting rates, credit unions must explore many factors.

"The first tip is that you have to conduct a marginal cost analysis," Rick said. "You also have to keep in mind how rate-sensitive your members are and to focus on rates that will have the biggest impact."

Having higher rates for savings and share drafts doesn't usually bring in that many new members, so it might be best to focus on raising rates for CDs and money market accounts, he suggested.

With today's current bottom-of-the-barrel rates, it's tough for credit unions to dish out rates that 

are distinctively different from the competition, but it can be done, according to Denny Graham, president/CEO of FI Strategies, a St. Louis-based strategic planning firm.

A perfect example comes from the GoBankingRates study, which revealed that credit unions had a 75% higher savings rate on average than banks.

"Rates being 75% higher doesn't say much in this low interest rate environment – 75% better than 0.10% is a whopping .175%," Graham said, adding the bottom line is that credit unions must look at the impact over the long term.

"Higher deposit rates either mean a lower net interest margin, higher loan rates or more dependence on fee income to produce revenue," he said. "If it's part of an overall strategy, it's a good thing."

Read more: Some rate hikes are illogical …

Others within the credit union industry agreed.

"Having the highest savings rate for a simple competitive advantage over a bank is just bubblegum for marketers, unless it leads to the overall success of the organization," Randy Karnes, CEO of data services CUSO CU*Answers in Grand Rapids, Mich., said.

Karnes encouraged credit unions to develop a pricing strategy that is defendable, repeatable and simple enough to correlate with the organization's culture and business goals.

"Do not fall into the trap of setting a high price just to impress," Karnes offered. "Work hard to communicate the impression that this is the right rate right now."

Cooperatives should also maximize rates for members based on stretching to deliver the utmost in value to the entire membership, he said.

"The prices you set should be based on an internal scorecard, and you should always be able to defend that, no matter what others are doing," Karnes said.

Many credit unions have taken an illogical approach to setting rates, according to Randy Thompson, CEO of TCT Risk Solutions (formerly TCT Inc.), a balance sheet and risk management CUSO based in Eagle, Idaho.

"Most credit unions use what I call the 'looking over the fence' process to set deposit rates," Thompson said, who is also a member of the newly-founded VirtualCorps.com, a Great Falls, Mont.-based aggregator of credit union service and educational tools.

"Setting high deposit rates is likely to attract deposits, which will cause assets to grow," he said. "As assets grow, a credit union's equity ratio declines. For example, in 2013 a credit union was offering 1% rate on shares."

This was 10 times the market rate, he continued. From June to December, their assets grew from $65 million to $95 million. This caused the equity ratio to decline from 10.2% to 8.1%.

Meanwhile, some credit unions are employing a more internal process to set rates, Thompson said.

"They use what I call the dividend payout ratio. Based on internal metrics such as core to high yield deposits, expense ratio, relative interest rates and loan to share, they create an internal marker for the percent of interest income that should be devoted to interest expense (dividends). This marker becomes a dividend budget and can (be) distributed to each deposit type based on rates offered."

Credit unions using that methodology are paying well below the bank average while improving their net interest margin, he said.

"It also provides an accurate and clear estimation of the total dividends costs in advance of month end."