ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.–More than 25 teams will be presenting to judges today the ideas they have been working on for the past 24 straight hours.
This morning the teams taking part in PSCU’s Knockout competition here at its headquarters, as well as in Phoenix, Allen Park, Mich. and Honolulu, will unveil their ideas for improving the member experience, the credit union experience or growth.
CUToday.info was on hand yesterday morning when the starting bell was rung and the teams—which were permitted to brainstorm an idea ahead of time but not allowed to work on it—sat down and began a process that would require an all-nighter for most. There are approximately 200 participants overall.
This is the fourth year PSCU has sponsored the Knockout competition. Kristin Scharf, SVP-marketing and communications with PSCU, said sponsorship of the effort is part of the company’s focus on having cooperatives collaborate on bringing new ideas to market. This year’s competition includes representatives from 23 credit unions, which is double the number of CU participants in 2014. Ten of those teams were on hand in St. Petersburg, with the rest divided among the other three locations.
The teams are not all from single credit unions. Instead, said Scharf, PSCU played matchmaker in most cases and helped to put together teams of employees from vendors and PSCU itself, as well. Team names included Mobile Monsters, Mighty Minus Signs, Debit Dynamite, Team Bacon, and Team Luau, Lakes, and Cheesesteaks.
When the competition was launched four years ago, when it was first known as a “hack-a-thon,” there was more of a focus on technology and computer coding. But that has evolved.
“It’s not just IT people, it’s a mix,” said Scharf. “Ideally there will be developers on your team. Some of the ideas are very conceptual and are presented in PowerPoint, others are much more specific.”
While teams were not allowed to discuss their projects in-depth prior to launch, PSCU did share some “tricks and tips” with participants to help ensure projects were finished in time for presentation.
Winning Ideas Are Developed
The winning project at Knockout does not just reach its pinnacle on the day it's selected and then sits on a shelf. PSCU works to bring them to market.
“Every year we have developed the winning idea,” said Scharf.
In 2012 the winning project was a mobile app that lets cardholders easily report a card that has been lost or stolen. That idea has been adapted and incorporated into a larger credit card data and account servicing app that is now “baked into” PSCU’s mobile app, said Scharf.
In 2013, the winning idea was the “Snap2Switch” app developed by a team from GTE Financial that is now being tested by that credit union.
The winning idea in 2014 was “eXpress Transfer,” which seeks to bring balance transfers to the forefront of the member’s mobile experience. It utilizes PSCU’s data analytics to “aggressively market balance transfers to appropriate cardholders by displaying the potential savings via an interactive calculator and push notifications,” PSCU said. That idea is currently in development.
Scharf said the focus of the ideas presented has evolved since Knockout was launched. Initially teams were very focused on mobile applications, but now the teams have migrated to focusing more around process improvements as well as improvements to the member experience.
“We have refined this every year,” explained Scharf. “We take surveys and then hone Knockout. She said that feedback from those surveys played a role in changing the amount of time teams had to present, in creating “meet-ups” prior to the event for many participants, and in adding the additional locations.
“PSCU is really excited to be able to sponsor this and to foster collaboration,” Scharf said.
How Judging Will Work & What's Next
Each of the teams will have seven minutes to make their presentations before the judges today. From that, eight semi-finalists will be selected, followed by another round of judging, the “TKO round,” which will narrow the finalists to three. The three finalists will go to open voting online and will be announced on Sept. 25. The grand prize winner will be announced Oct. 5.
The winning teams get more than just the glory of the victory and seeing their idea brought to market. The first place team wins a $1,500 travel voucher for each team member; each member of the second place team wins a Smart TV, and each member of the third place team wins a $250 gift card.