ORLANDO–Charm Security, a provider of agentic AI that helps reduce fraud and cybercrime, was the $10,000 winner of NACUSO’s Next Big Idea competition here, held as part of the association’s Reimagine 2026 meeting.
Charm Security, which donated the prize to a charity that helps victims of fraud, beat out three other fintechs for the grand prize.
Members of a panel who asked the competitors questions following their presentations included Chad Frye of Truliant FCU, Mary Beth Spuck of Resource One FCU, Blake Woods of orsa Credit Union, and John Dearing of Capstone.
Here’s a look at Charm Security, as well as the other three finalists.
Roy Zur, co-founder and CEO of Charm Security, said the company is an agentic AI workforce for fraud and cybercrime.
Saying there is a “scamdemic” taking place, Zur said most FIs’ response to fraud has been to add more detection tools.
“But that’s not enough for two reasons, according to Zur:
- The detection lacks the human context of the moment
- There are a lot of operational challenges with numerous alerts and more, and CU can’t bring more people to deal with the problem, leaving a lot of alerts unresolved.
Charm’s approach, said Zur, is moving from detection to action. He said the company has developed a “dual brain” based on a human vulnerabilities and exploits (HVE) model, and that the system combines both fraud and security and behavioral analysis, with the agent sitting on top of the existing tools a credit union uses. The solution can take all cases together, use intelligence and prevent the next attack, and can be applied across multiple use-cases, he said.
The agent can then offer insights and understand what the member is saying in real time while measuring the risk for fraud, Zur explained. At some point, the Charm agent can “become part of the conversation and become more than an alert, it’s a fraud expert who can help resolve in real time,” he said.
Zur said CUs using Charm see up to 30% reduction in fraud losses and up to an 80% reduction in operational costs. He said Charm agents can be deployed from Backoffice to front lines to members and has been launched in five credit unions.
Charm is part of Curql Accelerator.
The other companies that made their pitches for the Next Big Idea included:
Crebit provides a global system for money movement and foreign exchange powered by stablecoins, generating revenue for credit unions and making the process less expensive and easier for members, the company said.
According to co-founder Sunni Sen, “foreign exchange is outdated,” saying such transactions typically take seven days and charge 6-10% fees.
Sen, a first-generation American, said she saw her own parents struggle with the time involved and the fees involved in international remittances. She said she watched fellow students have similar experiences while she was enrolled at Stanford.
“This is not a niche problem. There are 62-million immigrants in the U.S. sending $125 billion in cross-border payments annually, with YoY growth of 15%,” Sen said. “Now is a great time to solve the issue due to the GENIUS Act, which recognizes stablecoins. Stablecoins are here and are a federally recognized payments rail. Members will increasingly expect instant global payments. And that is what Crebit will offer.”
Sen said Crebit can be embedded in the CU’s digital banking app. On the credit union side, it appears to be a normal domestic ACH. Crebit takes the dollar and buys stablecoins. Then it for the currency of the receiving party.
For the member it’s fiat in, fiat out, and for the CU it’s ACH with no SWIFT transfer fees, Sen said. The company just surpassed the transfer of $2 million in a single month, a 100% increase over one month earlier.
Crebit is part of the of Curql Accelerator program and MSUFCU Accelerator program.
Eric Berg of Duome—who was accompanied at one point in his presentation by a guitarist—explained that Duome is a fintech company and CUSO that seeks to makes homeownership more attainable by co-investing 25% to 45% of a home’s purchase price alongside qualified buyers. Its market is renters who can’t pull together enough money to get into a home.
Duome partners with impact investors to provide equity support (up to 45% of the purchase price), reducing the size of the mortgage needed. The program is designed for income-stable, under-resourced buyers who are constrained by high down payments and monthly costs, according to Berg. The buyer holds the title and is responsible for mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, and maintenance, while Duome acts as an equity partner. When the home is sold or refinanced, Duome shares in the appreciation of the home’s value.
Berg said that by working through credit unions, Duome helps expand homeownership opportunities while maintaining safe lending standards, while also ringing long-term relationships to the CUs.
Starlight is CUSO that seeks to help CUs increase member financial resilience by connecting them with local, state, and federal assistance programs. Embedded directly into digital banking, Starlight said it helps members identify and apply for benefits, helping credit unions reduce delinquency and deepen loyalty.
According to the company. Its mission is to unlock over $140 billion in unclaimed government benefits for Americans by using AI to identify eligibility for public benefits and provides step-by-step guidance for applications.
At St. Louis Community CU, for example it was able to unlock $4.1 million for members.
