Press

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — PSCU, the nation’s leading credit union service organization, has selected the champion of its third annual KnockOut – an all-night innovation competition.

The grand prize winner is a balance-transfer app that safeguards user’s account information. The concept was born and developed in just 24 hours with a goal to address credit union members’ new consumer demands and solve today’s most pressing financial service issues. The winning idea was developed by Team Tech Attack, a group of employees from Consumers Cooperative Credit Union, based in Lake County, Illinois. Looking forward, the winning idea could be brought to market to benefit PSCU credit unions and their members as soon as next year.

Originally inspired by hackathons – 24-hour software development competitions – PSCU’s KnockOut is an innovative team event that allows credit unions to come together to create breakthrough ideas.

“The ideas produced at PSCU’s KnockOut 2014 are a testament to the credit union industry’s commitment to being at the forefront of technology for today’s consumers,” said Fredda McDonald, PSCU’s Chief Creative Officer. “PSCU is proud of our role in helping credit unions remain relevant to their customers by creating new innovations.”

At this year’s Knock Out, participants were grouped into 28 teams with 150 competitors from 11 credit unions.  The competition was held at all three PSCU locations and in Hawaii, as the teams raced against the clock to develop concepts that demonstrated function, feasibility, industry impact, time to market, cost and ROI.

Prior to the winning idea’s selection, six semi-finalists were chosen by an esteemed group of judges after teams from PSCU and its Member-Owner credit unions completed and presented their ideas. Judges included executives from PSCU, PayPal, Visa, First Data, Filene Research Institute and Connect Financial Software Solutions. From there, PSCU credit unions and employees cast their votes over the past week to select the winner.

“Creating a venue for ideation at KnockOut is one of the many ways PSCU provides a collaborative opportunity to create new ideas and position credit unions as leaders to their current and future members,” added McDonald. “PSCU’s KnockOut is an event unique to our industry, because it provides a hands-on chance for top thinkers in payments technology to innovate with our credit unions – and to develop real-world solutions for their members.”

In addition to the winning team from Consumers Cooperative Credit Union, Team Pineapple, a team of PSCU employees from the company’s St. Petersburg, FL office, submitted a concept for automated push notifications that would go to members who may be impacted by a data breach before it is publicly announced, which came in second place. Third place went to Team Sliced Bread from PSCU’s Phoenix, AZ office who developed a solution that leverages new phone technology to immediately provide consumers with a virtual card when they report their card lost or stolen.

This year marked the first time the event was simultaneously hosted in four locations across the country: St. Petersburg, FL, Phoenix, AZ, Allen Park, MI and Honolulu, HI. The winning ideas from PSCU’s two previous KnockOut events include a mobile app that enables members to report their cards lost or stolen (launched at PSCU’s MoPRO 2014 annual conference for Member-Owner Credit Unions in April), and a switch-kit solution that consumers can use to easily transfer their bank account relationships to a credit union.

In the spirit of innovation that KnockOut seeks to inspire, PSCU implemented digital sharing tools and video to synchronize the event across all four locations and enable a simultaneous experience for all participants. Cameras were placed throughout each location and provided around-the-clock live streaming, so viewers and participants could tune in to the excitement and follow in real-time on the KnockOut website. Attendees could also connect with nationwide participants, follow the schedule and track updates through the KnockOut event app.

About PSCU

Established in 1977, PSCU (St. Petersburg, FL) is the nation’s leading credit union service organization (CUSO) and serves more than 1,500 financial institutions nationwide. The company is owned by over 700 member credit unions representing over 18 million credit, debit, prepaid, online bill payment, mobile and electronic banking accounts. Comprehensive 24/7/365 member support is delivered through four Contact Centers located throughout the United States that handle more than 18 million inquiries a year.