PSCU and Glenbrook Release White Paper: Blockchain and the Credit Union: The Asset Transfer Revolution
St. Petersburg, Fla. – (September 1, 2016) – PSCU, the nation’s leading Credit Union Service Organization, and Glenbrook Partners, a payments industry strategy consulting and research firm, have collaborated on a white paper on blockchain technology and its potential for credit unions. The newly released white paper is now available for download online. Anyone interested in taking a deeper dive into the research can participate in a webinar on October 5.
“We believe this white paper is a giant step towards the ultimate application of blockchain technology in solving multiple operational and logistical challenges facing credit unions today,” said Chuck Fagan, President & CEO of PSCU. “The collective voice of the credit union industry reflected in this research will help shape future use cases for blockchain in our industry. The collaborative effort of the credit unions, industry advocates and partners involved in the CULedger initiative represents the most appropriate approach to achieving greater efficiencies in areas that are central to credit unions’ core business interests.”
CULedger is a collaborative effort among CUNA, Best Innovation Group, the Mountain West Credit Union Association, PSCU and other industry partners to examine blockchain operation and to pilot potentially useful applications.
While still in its early stages, blockchain technology has captured the attention of the financial services industry. Along with other financial institutions, credit unions are examining the implications of blockchain for their members and operations. One challenge for credit unions is to identify specific use cases that would benefit the credit union community as a whole.
PSCU partnered with Glenbrook Partners on the white paper. Founded in 2001, Glenbrook has a unique combination of specialized skills in payments, years of hands-on experience in the field, and a network of professional relationships that informs its research. Its team comprises executives with broad exposure to many facets of the payments industry, including business management, marketing, technology, operations and risk management.
The white paper examines the applicability of blockchain technology to the credit union industry. Glenbrook Partners interviewed credit union leaders from across the country to build a credit union roadmap for each topic. The resulting discussions found a significant awareness of blockchain technology and much ongoing dialogue about the technology’s applicability to the credit union industry.
“Credit unions have good reason to be excited about the potential of blockchain technology,” said George Peabody, Partner at Glenbrook Partners. “It may function as an asset custodian, improve record keeping, support remittance and settlement functions, and even automate contracts. While these are early days in blockchain technology development, the emerging applications based on this new approach could alter how assets of many kinds are transferred and tracked. It’s time to pay attention.”
Click here to download the complete white paper. To register for the October 5 webinar, click here.
About PSCU
Established in 1977, PSCU (St. Petersburg, Fla.) is the nation's leading credit union service organization (CUSO) and was awarded CUSO of the Year recognition by NACUSO. The cooperative is owned by over 800 member credit unions representing more than 18.9 million credit, debit, prepaid, online bill payment and mobile accounts. Comprehensive 24/7/365 member support is delivered through contact centers located throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.pscu.com.
About Glenbrook Partners
Founded in 2001, Glenbrook is a payments industry strategy consulting and research firm. Glenbrook brings to its clients a unique combination of specialized skills in payments, many years of hands-on experience in the field, and a network of professional relationships.
Glenbrook serves payments professionals in many different kinds of companies, including payments services providers, card networks, technology and risk management companies, banks, merchants, and treasury managers. Glenbrook works with start-ups in the industry as well as managers from leading companies that are looking to innovate. Glenbrook's team is composed of executives with broad exposure to many facets of the payments industry, including business management, marketing, technology, operations, and risk management.
Glenbrook offers clients strategy consulting, research, and industry education programs. Glenbrook also facilitates industry collaborations and provides landscape overviews of emerging payments.
