LAS VEGAS—goodbuy has been named the winner of the “Next Big Idea” competition hosted by NACUSO, beating out five other companies, all of which made their pitches before the audience cast their votes. 

goodbuy won the $7,500 first place award in the competition. 

goodbuy offers a local marketplace that connects a credit union with small businesses in its market. It creates a labelled directory of those businesses that offers benefits to both members and the small business itself, according to Cara Oppenheimer, CEO and cofounder, and Cary Fortin, COO and cofounder, both of whom made the pitch for their company before a panel of judges and the meeting’s audience.

goodbuy calls itself the growth engine for small business deposits and acquisition.

“We believe we can use the goodbuy platform to solve a pretty significant problem facing credit unions,” the cofounders told the NACUSO meeting. “Younger consumers are joining CUs at a third of the rate of their parents.”

And that leads to a great need for new member growth. 

The Overlooked Opportunity

One overlooked opportunity? Small business accounts, according to goodbuy, which noted that only 4% of small businesses are choosing to bank with credit unions.

“Small businesses on average generate 5x to 10x the interchange income of any consumer accounts and are highly loyal,” Oppenheimer told the meeting.

So, why do 96% of small businesses still bank with banks? They feel no incentive to move accounts, according to goodbuy. And yet what is it that keeps SMBs up at night? The lack of access to more customers, according to a survey conducted by the company. 

Those small need an incentive to move, and goodbuy said its platform provides that “meaningful incentive” by exposing it to more potential customers. The company does that through a white-labeled, CU-branded, small business marketplace that facilitates commerce between members and local businesses. The small business can offer incentives, such as a discount, to members of the credit union. 

The company currently works with WSECU in Washington. 

It charges an annual fee to the CU for participation. 

The Other Big Idea Pitches

Here is a look at the other companies that were vying to win the Next Big Idea competition, which is a popular annual event at the NACUSO meeting.

Here’s a look at the other companies that made presentations:

Traduality

Presenter: Diego Achio, CEO

The solution: A multi-cultural member experience platform and translation “out of the box.”

Traduality offers a platform for communicating with non-English speaking members and potential members, which the company said is key for attracting and retaining prospective members who don’t speak English. It’s a scenario for which most credit unions are not prepared, according to Achio. 

Achio, who shared his story of coming to the U.S. three years ago with his wife, who speaks only Spanish and who is often frustrated, noted there are more than 2.5 million documented immigrants who come to the U.S. every year, and half cannot speak English. 

“This is an amazing business opportunity that credit unions are missing,” said Achio.

The company offers an AI-based solution it calls “Fire Lingo.”

He also provided a video demo showing an English speaker and a Spanish speaker in conversation inside a branch communicating with each other in real time using the solution.

CoverBase (Second Place Award Winner)

Presenter: Clarence Chio, CEO

Coverbase provides a vendor management solution, with Chio saying the current systems used by credit unions are “broken” and involve long questionnaires, hundreds of pages of documents, and other aggravations.

“This is not the best use of our time in adopting technologies faster,” he said.

Chio described Coverbase as a vendor management “copilot” that significantly reduces the amount of time needed to manage vendors, including with compliance.

“Credit unions are performing assessments on the same vendors over and over again,” he said, noting different credit unions are doing the same vendor due-diligence on the same companies repeatedly. 

Coverbase allows CUs to “help each other” with vendor assessments, according to Chio, who said the solution allows a CU to spend its time on the 30% of the process that are unique to that CU, speeding the process.

Coverbase, which reported it currently monitors 10,000+ companies, said:

• AI gathers vendor intel on the CU’s behalf
• Assessments run almost fully autonomously
• Vendors are managed and monitored effortlessly. IF there is a company failure, all users are notified.
• The AI uses risk controls defined by the CU

Metallicus

Presenter: John Ainsworth, CEO

Metallicus is a solution for gathering and retaining member funds when members purchase and sell cryptocurrency. The company said the data show how much in funds are flowing from credit unions to other crypto providers, pointing out, for example, that $50.5 billion in additional deposits went to Robinhood in 2024.

When it comes to instant payments it’s critical that crypto be a part of the transaction at the credit union, Ainsworth said, providing a demo of what the transaction and digital experience are like, including moving money from a checking account to a crypto wallet, and vice versa.

The solution offers security against fraud, a point it emphasized in its presentation, as faster payments can also mean faster fraud.

Metallicus allows for engagement with the CU’s brand, with the CU’s platform and with the CU’s experience, Ainsworth added.

Scamnetic (Third Place Award Winner)

Presenter: Al Pascual, CEO

Consumer scams remain a “huge problem,” with the company noting scams are the most reported crime on Earth as of 2024. And scams are a crime that affect members of all ages, including younger members who are actually three times more likely to scammed than older members.

The first phone call 70% of those scammed make is to their financial institution, and they often say they wish their CU had told them it was a scam, according to Pascual. One-in-five of those scammed members don’t return to their credit union, he stated, noting financial institution scams are among the most prevalent, which is why consumers don’t open messages from their FI.

Pascual said Scamnetic provides a solution called “KnowScam.” 

“The idea is wherever the scammer is reaching out to your member, we want to e there to protect them,” said Pasquale.

Its software scores communications on a scale of 1-4. When it sees a problem, the member is cautioned over what the company is seeing. Over time, many people come to trust the scammer more than their financial institution, which is why it’s important to act early, Pascual explained.

People are overwhelmed with security education, according to Pascual, who said consumers no longer even know what to look for. Scamnetic does the looking for the member/consumer.

Scamnetic also offers another tool, IDeveryone, to protect members and provide confidence in the person they are transferring money to.

ChexRay

Presenter: Ray Ragen.

Calling check fraud a “hair on fire problem,” Ragen said check fraud is actually the fastest-growing form of fraud even though the number of actual paper checks being written has declined.

Ragan, a former CU executive, shared stories of check fraud he had witnessed during his career, said it’s a fraud other CUs see every day.

Ragan, who is looking for other CUs to invest and create a CUSO, said he reviewed patent data around anti-check fraud from MICR to blockchain, and the problem remains because anything a FI does to a check a fraudster can also do.

The obvious answer, said Ragan, is using the picture of the whole check as the point of authenticity. The company uses AI in its solution.
So, how does ChexRay work? The member writes a check, takes a picture of the check and stores it with the credit union app. When the chedck is presented, AI checks to see if it has been altered. 

“ChexRay is about more than fraud, it’s about giving our members control,” said Ragan/ “This will give credit unions a distinct market advantage.”