CHICAGO—This year's $10,000 CO-OP THINK Prize went to Technicolor FCU's Robert Baron, for his idea for a "virtual teller system."
The contest results were announced at CO-OP Financial Services' THINK 13 meeting here, where the three finalists in the competition presented their ideas. "One of the biggest structural dilemmas the credit union industry faces is that 'banking hours' are usually the same as 'working hours,' making interpersonal engagement between members and credit unions more difficult," Baron said during his presentation. "I have developed [a plan for] a secure virtual teller system that would allow members to visit any branch without ever having to leave their home or office through video-conferencing from either a computer or mobile phone."
The other two finalists were: Andree Kirk of San Francisco FCU for the idea of a shared member application platform and Deborah Larson of Dakota Plains CU for the idea for a switch kit app.
The THINK Prize, aimed at encouraging innovation within the credit union industry, was presented by CO-OP Financial Services and THINK 13 sponsor MasterCard.
