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MasterCard innovation award presented at CUES Directors Conference
MAUI, HI (December 10, 2013) — The Credit Union Executives Society is pleased to announce MasterCard (NYSE: MA) named Jane Watkins, president/CEO, Virginia Credit Union, Richmond, Va., the first-ever MasterCard Retail Payments Innovation Award winner during CUES’ Directors Conference, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.
The MasterCard Retail Payments Innovation Award was created by MasterCard to honor a ground-breaking credit union, and to celebrate and support CUES’ new Strategic Innovation Institute, which is being held in September 2014. MasterCard is also one of the CUES partners helping to underwrite the development of the institute.
To be considered for the award, credit unions must be leaders in the industry, make a significant market impact, and improve their members’ lives through innovative payment products. Virginia Credit Union was an early user of credit card chip technology in the U.S.
Watkins will receive a registration, airfare and hotel accommodations to attend Strategic Innovation Institute I, hosted at MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, Mass., Sept. 15-19, 2014, and a trip to tour the MasterCard lab in Dublin, Ireland.
“MasterCard is on the forefront of offering inventive payment products to the financial industry; we’re honored to bring the MasterCard Payment Innovation Award to the movement to celebrate credit unions leading the way in cutting-edge ideas and processes,” said John Ainsworth, group head of U.S. markets, MasterCard International. “It’s also a great way to show our support of, and bring attention to, CUES’ Strategic Innovation Institute.”
Strategic Innovation Institute I offers an integrated curriculum of strategy, innovation, technology, and leadership.
Strategic Innovation Institute II will start in fall 2015 at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford, Calif. This session will explore how to scale innovation, and provides attendees with the opportunity to explore ideation and design solutions to solve common consumer challenges.
“I’m pleased MasterCard understands the importance of supporting educational opportunities like CUES’ Strategic Innovative Institute,” said Chuck Fagan, CUES’ president/CEO. “Strategic Innovation Institute will give credit union executives the opportunity to break new ground as they explore fresh ideas, examine strategic thinking on large and small scale innovation, learn ways to build organizational capacity for continuous innovation, and discover how to grow their business in ways that align with the traditions and culture of credit unions.”
For more information on Strategic Innovation Institute I, visit cues.org/SII-I; for more on Strategic Innovation Institute II, visit cues.org/SII-II. Or, contact Kristin Ryan, CUES’ executive education and meetings manager, at 800.252.2664 or 608.271.2664, ext. 308, or email kristin@cues.org.
The Credit Union Executives Society is a Madison, Wisconsin-based, independent, not-for-profit, international membership association for credit union executives. Its mission is to educate and develop credit union CEOs, directors and future leaders