FRISCO, Texas–Two companies won “Best in Show” honors during the VentureTech Conference here, which is sponsored by Curql and CUNA Strategic Services.
Aries Fraud Solutions was voted “Best in Show” at the VentureTech Conference Launch Party, earning top recognition among a competitive field of 12 fintech startups and a voting audience of several hundred credit union leaders, the company said.
According to the company, the Launch Party stage showcases emerging technologies poised to create real impact within the credit union movement.
‘Huge Validation’
“Aries Fraud Solutions earned the crowd’s vote through its presentation of the Obscurity Card, the company’s patented dual-PAN technology designed to proactively eliminate card-not-present fraud at the source—without requiring any new hardware, software, or cardholder behavior changes,” the company said in a statement.
Added Lon Varns, founder & president of Aries Fraud Solutions, in a statement, “Being recognized by the credit union community is a huge validation of the need for preventative fraud technology. Winning Best in Show reinforces our mission to protect financial institutions, reduce operational burden, and prevent fraud before it ever occurs.”
Reset Wins Main Stage Pitch
In addition, Reset, an embedded payments platform that enables credit unions to natively provide Earned Wage Access (EWA), won “Best of Show” in the Main Stage Pitch Competition at VentureTech 2025.
According to Reset, its solution addresses a critical challenge: members are “soft switching” away from their credit union to neobanks and fintechs offering early pay access. Reset’s EWA solution captures the member’s direct deposit by giving members fee-free daily access to earned income.
The credit union remains the financial home, while driving core deposit growth and premium interchange revenue, the company said.
The CU Daily published an extensive report on “soft switching” here.
“Reset is honored that we were awarded ‘Best in Show’ in the Main Stage Pitch Competition and see it as a strong vote of confidence by the credit union industry,” CEO and Co-Founder Matt Dicou said in a statement. “America needs the credit union movement now more than ever, and we are excited to do our part building the future together.”
Added Jim Ryan, VP of partnerships at Curql, in a statement, “The Reset team’s passion for solving real consumer challenges was on full display at VentureTech. When families struggle to make ends meet, Reset’s earned wage access provides a valuable tool to help them thrive, even in a tough economy.”
Reset said its platform supports W-2 workers, gig earners, military personnel, and Social Security recipients–addressing the 77% of U.S. consumers wanting EWA from their financial institution.
Real-World Results
According to the company, on average, Reset cardholders resulted in:
- 27% increase in deposits to their credit union, strengthening account primacy
- 36% higher checking account balances, meaning members are saving more
- 20% more credit spend, earning more premium interchange revenue on everyday spend
- 100% of surveyed members indicated Reset improves their financial stability
