Employees Of Three Credit Unions Named Finalists Of 10000 Co Op Think Prize

EMPLOYEES OF THREE CREDIT UNIONS
NAMED FINALISTS OF $10,000 CO-OP THINK PRIZE

 Winner to be Named May 1 at THINK 2012 Conference in Boca Raton, Florida

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (January 30, 2012) – With a $10,000 grand prize presented by MasterCard at stake, three finalists have been named for the second annual CO-OP THINK Prize, created in 2010 to inspire innovative solutions to the issues confronting the credit union industry.

The three finalists and their business plans include:

• Maricela Jauregui, Branch Manager, Mid Cities Credit Union, Compton, Calif.: “QC Code for Account Access.”

• Jay Schwartz, V.P., Sales and Service Delivery, Marriott Employees’ FCU, Bethesda, Md.: “Social Networking for Credit Union Members.”

• Paul Yang, CEO, Premier Community Credit Union, Stockton, Calif.: “P2P Payment Card for CO-OP Network Cardholders.”

“We congratulate the three finalists, who have worked hard to develop their business plans since we received their initial idea at the end of August,” said Stan Hollen, President/CEO, Financial Services. “The intent of the CO-OP THINK Prize is to promote creative thinking on challenges facing our movement, and in 2012 we have three very thoughtful approaches for our judges to consider.”

The three finalists were selected from among 25 semi-finalists by judges with CO-OP Financial Services and Filene Research Institute. The winner of the CO-OP THINK Prize for 2012 will be announced on May 1 at the THINK 12 Conference, being held in Boca Raton, Fla., April 29-May 2. 

The winner will be based on scoring by the CO-OP Financial Services and Filene Research Institute judges; online voting at the dedicated voting website (http://THINKPrizeVote.org) open March 26-April 13, and on-site voting by registered THINK 12 Conference attendees.

CO-OP Financial Services will be working with the finalists to produce a video that helps the entrants to explain their idea. This video will be made available on the THINK website and shown at the THINK 12 Conference on the morning of May 1. The three finalists themselves and a guest of each are invited to the THINK 12 Conference, with CO-OP Financial Services covering their travel and lodging costs. 

The business plans of CO-OP THINK Prize entrants can take any form – such as an innovative application of technology, a new process for back office efficiency or a fresh approach to industry advertising and marketing. Though the ideas can vary widely, the judging criteria for entries are based on four main standards – impact, creativity, aggregation (the application of the idea across the industry) and implementation (the ability to be adopted quickly).

For more information on the CO-OP THINK Prize and the 2012 THINK Conference, visit http://co-opthink.org.

About CO-OP Financial Services

Based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. and founded in 1981, CO-OP Financial Services is the industry leader in access and convenience products for credit unions. CO-OP Financial Services connects credit union members to their accounts through network, payment processing, e-commerce, shared branching and call center services. With more than 3,000 credit union clients, 30 million cardholders, 28,000 surcharge-free ATMs, 4,400 shared branch locations and more than 2.2 billion annual transactions, CO-OP Financial Services offers the tools, counsel and leadership to help credit unions prosper. To learn more, visit www.co-opfs.org.