PSCU announces KnockOut 2015 Finalists
Three teams in the running to be crowned winner of competitive payments summit
ST. PETERSBURG, FL (October 2, 2015) — PSCU – the nation’s leading CUSO – has announced the finalists of KnockOut 2015, a 24-hour competitive summit. Two hundred participants came together last month during KnockOut with a goal of collaborating to discover new solutions to enhance the credit union member experience. Ideas from the three finalists will now move to open voting to determine this year’s winning idea, and will be announced by October 7, 2015.
Ideas were required to fall into three categories: Member Experience, Credit Union Experience, and Growth. The finalists and their ideas are:
- Hawaiian Punch (Hawaii State Federal Credit Union, Honolulu, Hawaii; and PSCU, St. Petersburg, Florida) – App that allows members to obtain real-time lending
- Lava Rush (HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union, Honolulu, Hawaii) – App that allows crowdfunding for life events
- Team MoPRO Active (Flag Credit Union, Tallahassee, Florida; and PSCU, St. Petersburg, Florida) – Pop-up feature that eliminates collections calls in early delinquency stages, offers multiple payment options, and enhances member experience
KnockOut was held in every PSCU office – St. Petersburg Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; and Allen Park, Michigan – and at a fourth location hosted by HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union in Honolulu, Hawaii. The 24 participating teams were each made up of five members that included PSCU employees, credit union employees, and PSCU partners from across the country, representing multiple business disciplines.
“KnockOut focuses on collaborating to discover and bring to market real products and services, with an ultimate goal of enabling credit union growth and providing an exceptional member experience,” said Chuck Fagan, President and CEO of PSCU. “We believe each of the finalists’ ideas has the potential to make a difference for our industry and are eager to help bring the winning idea to market to benefit credit unions and consumers across the country.”
Past KnockOut winners include:
- KnockOut 2012 – A mobile app that lets cardholders easily report a card lost or stolen. The idea was adapted and incorporated into a larger credit card data and account servicing app that is now in market and one of the only of its kind.
- KnockOut 2013 – The Snap2Switch App lets consumers switch their bank accounts to a relationship with a credit union and is currently being tested by GTE Financial.
- KnockOut 2014 – eXpress Transfer brings balance transfers to the forefront of the member’s mobile experience. It utilizes PSCU’s Data Analytics to market balance transfers to appropriate cardholders by displaying the potential savings via an interactive calculator and push notifications. The idea is currently in development.
A panel of judges from PSCU, First Data, Filene, Solstice, IBM, Projekt202, Oceanit, Blue Startups, Hawaii Airlines and several PSCU Member-Owner credit unions (Arizona State CU, Vantage CU, Consumers CU and Lake Trust CU) selected this year’s eight semi-finalists. A team of subject matter experts from PSCU then narrowed it down to the three finalists. PSCU and credit union employees are now able vote online to determine this year’s winning idea, which will be announced by October 7.
About PSCU
PSCU/Co-op Solutions is the nation’s premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO) and an integrated financial technology solutions provider. With over four decades of industry experience and a commitment to service excellence and innovation, the company serves more than 4,000 financial institutions throughout North America. PSCU/Co-op Solutions leverages its expertise and resources on behalf of credit unions and their members, offering an end-to-end product portfolio that includes payment processing, fraud and risk management, data and analytics, digital banking, instant payments, strategic consulting, collections, ATM and POS networks, shared branching and 24/7/365 member support via its contact centers. For more information, visit pscu.com and coop.org.
