Paul Yang Of Premier Community Credit Union Voted Winner Of Co Op Think Prize 2012
PAUL YANG OF PREMIER COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION VOTED WINNER OF CO-OP THINK PRIZE 2012
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (May 2, 2011) – Paul Yang of Premier Community Credit Union, Stockton, Calif., is the winner of the CO-OP THINK Prize 2012, and recipient of $10,000, for his idea for a “P2P Payment Card for CO-OP Network Cardholders.”
The three finalists in the competition presented their business plans to attendees of THINK 12 in Boca Raton, Fla., the afternoon of April 30. Yang, CEO of Premier Community Credit Union, was announced the winner at the conference’s Gala & Dinner the evening of May 1.
The two other finalists were:
- Maricela Jauregui, Branch Manager, Mid Cities Credit Union, Compton, Calif.: “QR Code Verification.”
- Jay Schwartz, V.P., Sales and Service Delivery, Marriott Employees’ FCU, Bethesda, Md.: “Social Networking for Credit Union Members.”
The $10,000 award to Yang was presented by CO-OP Financial Services and CO-OP THINK Prize sponsor MasterCard.
As Yang explained it to the judges in his initial proposal, “My idea is a form of payment services – person-to-person. Anyone with a CO-OP Network card can send money to anyone else having a CO-OP Network card. By having this exclusive person-to-person payment system, members can easily pay one or another member, at any CO-OP ATM.”
“CO-OP congratulates Paul on his winning business plan,” said Stan Hollen, President/CEO of CO-OP Financial Services. “Our goal with the CO-OP THINK Prize is to promote and inspire creative thinking on industry issues, and Paul’s plan is a wonderful display of that.”
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). The three CO-OP THINK Prize finalists were selected by judges from CO-OP Financial Services and the Filene Research Institute.
The final decision on the winner was based on the voting of the judges, online voting at the THINK 12 website March 26-April 13 and that of registered THINK 12 attendees.
Entries for the CO-OP THINK Prize for 2013 open June 1 at www.co-opthink.org.
For more information, visit www.co-opfs.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 connects credit union members to
their accounts through network, payment processing, e-commerce,
shared branching and call center services. With more than 3,500
credit union members, 30 million cardholders, 28,000 surcharge-free
ATMs, 4,500 shared branch locations and more than two 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.
