Top Five Ideas Announced for CO-OP THINK Prize 16: The Financial Longevity Challenge

Participants from 133 Countries Contribute to Fintech Ideas
Addressing Needs of Aging Consumers

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CO-OP Financial Services is announcing the five top ideas for its CO-OP
THINK Prize 16: The Financial Longevity Challenge, with
contributions from on-line design teams centered throughout the United
States and as far away as Peru.

“One of the goals of our Challenge is to get consumers talking
about credit unions,” said Samantha Paxson, Chief Marketing Officer,
CO-OP. “And, the final participation numbers from around the world are
amazing – the current Challenge attracted nearly 20,000 sessions
from interested parties in 133 countries, with more than 500 active
participants.”

Launched in mid-October, the CO-OP THINK Prize 16 is being conducted by CO-OP
in partnership with OpenIDEO,
an online global innovation community and collaborative platform, and
co-sponsored by MasterCard.
The Challenge addresses the question: “How might we create
financial services that support the dreams and obligations of those 50
and older?”

A $10,000 prize will be apportioned among the five challenge team
leaders at a later date, during the fifth and open-ended Impact phase of
the Challenge, fostering continued collaboration on the ideas.

The five top ideas range from innovative new concepts for ATMs to
personal pension products to self-help podcasts, websites and clubs. The
OpenIDEO on-line design teams were headed by collaboration leaders from
California, Illinois, Michigan, New York and Peru.

The leading ideas were selected from a judging panel of OpenIDEO staff
and CO-OP and MasterCard representatives, and include (listed
alphabetically by the originator’s last name):

Rightsize
Originator:
Natalie LeRoy, Chicago, Illinois.
Idea: This initiative
seeks to help those over 50 who are looking to relocate or change their
living situation to reflect their current life circumstances. Through a
web and mobile platform, “Rightsize” will help users develop their ideas
about retirement, housing and lifestyle and transition them into
reality. Users are able to build a fiscal profile and check in with a
self-guided map, get relevant information from the news and other users,
as well as connect to resources and services.

The
“Not So Retired Life” Podcast
Originator: Rachel
Rosenbaum, Detroit, Michigan.
Idea: This initiative seeks to
empower individuals over 50 years old to re-frame the way they approach
retirement so they can live a long, fulfilling life, in a financially
sustainable way. This proposed podcast will share stories of the real
experiences of people in their late careers/early retirement. The plan
calls for leveraging local journalists, entrepreneurs, credit-unions,
and/or communities to find initial sponsors and interviewers.

All
Generation Friendly ATM
Originator: Freddy
Shimabukuro, Pueblo Libre, (Lima), Peru, in collaboration with the Peru
Chapter of the OpenIDEO Community.
Idea: The Friendly ATM
will give credit union members more confidence when using ATMs by
allowing them to take time when setting up transaction details while
they are at home. Once transactions details are confirmed, the
transaction will be automatically brought up the next time the user logs
in to an ATM. This will minimize the time that credit union members
spend in being vulnerable at physical ATM locations.

Leverage
Trust to Create Personal Pensions
Originator: Wingee
Sin, South San Francisco, California.
Idea: This initiative
seeks to create personal pension products for individuals and distribute
them via credit unions. It will support the dreams and obligations of
50-plus consumers by creating a steady income stream from their earlier
savings. It will leverage the credit union client relationships and
physical distribution network to offer individualized pension plans at
scale.

Incubator
Club for Credit Union Members
Originator: Lillian J.
Warner, New York, New York. Warner is among a team of graduate students
from New York University, under the tutelage of Anne-Laure Fayard,
Associate Professor of Management in the Department of Technology
Management and Innovation.
Idea: This team proposes an
“incubator” for credit union members over 50, where they can pursue
their small business dreams and connect with their community. In this
way, people in this age group can remain active, develop a project they
always wanted to work on and help someone by providing expertise. The
club will provide support, resources and networking opportunities to its
members.

The OpenIDEO collaborative format follows a five-step process including
Research, Ideas, Feedback, Refinement and Impact. The CO-OP THINK Prize
has been held annually since 2011, and is designed to inspire creative
thinking and solutions to issues confronting credit unions and their
members. For more information on the Challenge, visit https://challenges.openideo.com/challenge/financial-longevity.

About CO-OP Financial Services

CO-OP Financial Services is a payments and financial technology company
that supports 3,500 credit unions and 60 million members by providing a
cutting-edge suite of customizable tools and services. The company was
the first in its industry to merge purpose, innovation and technology to
help credit unions advance the industry mission of people helping
people. Visit www.co-opfs.org.

Contacts

CO-OP Financial Services
Bill Prichard, APR
Sr. Man., P.R. &
Corp. Comm.
800-782-9042, ext. 3450
Bill.Prichard@co-opfs.org