TAMPA, Fla.—The winner of the second annual PSCU KnockOut Innovation Summit, GTE Financial's "Delta Force," has created an app that will enable consumers to easily switch their current banking relationships to a credit union.
"Bank switch kits has been a big issue for us over the last two years; switching has been a pain and a hassle in the past," said Chad Burney, senior vice president and CIO of Virtual Banking for GTE Financial. "We wanted to create a way for people's financial lives to be as portable as cell phone contracts."
Burney was one of five GTE Financial team members. "We put together a cross-divisional team and were excited to participate as we were unable to last year. PSCU did a great job," he said. "It was very energetic."
GTE Financial's team were among 87 participants who were challenged over a 24-hour time frame to create a working prototype of a process or solution that solves a real credit union business need or challenge, explained McDonald of the summit that took place last month. The majority of teams competed at PSCU's St. Petersburg headquarters. The rest, about 15 people, vied for the top prize at the company's Phoenix location.
'An Exciting Idea'
"This was an exciting idea that cuts the pain of the switch in a quick and easy way," said PSCU Financial Services Executive Vice President Fredda McDonald. "Now more people will be aware of the credit union value position, which gives relevance and prosperity to the credit union industry."
PSCU's Team Bacon took second place developing an app, which allows cardholders to remove a block on their account when traveling internationally. Coming in third was another PSCU team, MoNation.
Its collective efforts allow cardholders to remotely identify suspect transactions as fraudulent or legitimate when notified by PSCU's fraud prevention team. And placing fourth was again PSCU's Team MoMo. This group's prototype solution enables members to create a "dream cart" of potential future purchases and apply for credit union financing for the items.
"This year's event was highly charged with high energy levels, which included a steady stream of Red Bull," said McDonald. "It exceeded expectations. From a logistics perspective is was more streamlined than last year; the judging improved and we had many industry experts on hand so participants could reach out in real-time and ask specific questions."
The panel of judges included representatives from Visa, MasterCard Labs, Filene Research Institute, PSCU and four PSCU member-owner credit unions. Each team was judged on criteria that included size of potential market opportunity, uniqueness of idea, projected return on investment and delivery timeframe.
"The judges felt strongly that four, instead of three, of the top ideas, based on initial scoring, should be included in the final round. All of the teams did a fantastic job," said Mollie Bell, Filene Research Institute's chief engagement officer and panel judge.
"I was really impressed especially given the time constraints," said Bell. "The finalists stood out for different reasons ranging from well-articulated problem and solution to developed applications. Team GTE stood out for all of the above."
Bell explained that Filene Research Institute recently hosted its annual "big.bright.minds" event, which brought together participants in a master class on behavioral economics. After attending PSCU KnockOut, Bell reflected on both events noting the positive differences of credit union within the financial services industry.
"I cannot put into words how amazing it was to see credit unions and system partners collaborate on learning and solving problems. One of our participants, who was just learning about Filene, mentioned to me that he was impressed at the level of collaboration stating that he would never see that type of collaboration with banks," said Bell of Filene Research Institute's event. "Collaboration is one of the cooperative principles and it is these foundational principles that make credit unions unique."
Launching Apps
Concepts put forth by the four winning teams will be submitted to PSCU's product development process for further refinement and preparation for launch into the marketplace, noted McDonald.
For their first place win, members of Delta Force each received a $1,500 travel voucher. Team Bacon members received a smart television and a subscription to Netflix, and Team MoNation members got a $250 gift card each.
Though Burney is not sure where he will travel with his winnings, he is certain that the bank switch solution will be launched in beta phase in 2014.
"We are in a mature prototype development phase and hope to be finished with most of the application by the end of the year."
For McDonald and the PSCU team, next year's event can't come too soon. "We are looking forward to continuing this next year. The momentum is strong and we have received feedback from credit unions already that didn't participate this year that they will be participating next year," said McDonald.
Among those credit unions returning will be GTE Financial.
"There were a lot of good ideas that came out of last year's KnockOut. And this year we wanted to raise the bar and we think we did because we didn't just have an idea but a working prototype," said Burney. "I think next year there will be lots of great ideas coming out of this event, many of which will be brought to fruition."
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