NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NAFCU Services is proud to announce the winners of our 2019 Innovation Awards: LendKey, Mastercard, and Q2. Our Innovation Awards recognize groundbreaking solutions that help credit unions thrive and compete in a complex marketplace, and winners are selected by an independent, third-party panel of judges. Innovation Awards are open exclusively to NAFCU Services Preferred Partners.
“Every year, the applications for NAFCU Services Innovation Awards become even more impressive, and I know our judges have a hard time choosing just three winners,” NAFCU Services President Randy Salser says. “The field of game-changing solutions for credit unions is truly fascinating. Congratulations to our three winners for rising to the top!”
The 2019 award-winning solutions are:
LendKey’s Student Lending Platform
LendKey’s custom, credit decisioning API and additional core product releases enable improved analytics to enhance borrower credit decisioning and permit more types of borrowers to fund their student loans through partner lenders. As credit unions work to remain competitive in the digital banking realm, LendKey is providing quick, cost-efficient digital lending solutions for credit unions of all sizes to enable student and home improvement loans.
Mastercard Pay with Rewards
Mastercard’s new rewards option helps credit unions bolster card usage, driving spend and engagement by allowing cardholders to make purchases anywhere with rewards points. The card brand also rolled out new APIs in the Mastercard Developer Zone to open up client access to the solution and data. The program is a flexible, cost-effective method for executing point-of-sale reward programs with no impact on the processes or technology used by merchants or acquirers. Card issuers can configure program rules to guide behavior that optimizes their portfolio’s potential.
Q2 Gro
Q2 Gro drives growth for credit unions across every channel of business by helping them create better experiences for members at each stage of their financial journey. It specializes in mobile-first member acquisition, including account opening in just four minutes, providing large-scale marketing tactics without corresponding resource consumption for smaller credit unions, serving business members, ID scanning for quick data extraction, and more. Q2 Gro activates new digital growth engines as consumers increasingly move toward digital and mobile channels.
The independent panel of judges for NAFCU Services’ 2019 Innovation Awards includes Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union Chief Operating Officer Kathy Chicas, CUbroadcast Creator and Host Mike Lawson, Coastal Federal Credit Union Chief Member Service Officer and Senior Vice President Jim Pack, CUinsight Co-Founder and Publisher Randy Smith, and Cobalt Credit Union Chief Communications Officer Sharon Stahr.
About NAFCU Services Corporation
NAFCU Services is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU). They connect forward-thinking credit unions to the best business partners. NAFCU Services’ Preferred Partners have supported credit union success in technology, security, risk management, and many other areas of business for more than 40 years. Companies go through a rigorous vetting process before becoming a Preferred Partner, so credit union leaders know the solutions are trustworthy. For more information, visit nafcu.org/nafcuservices and connect on Twitter @NAFCUServices.