GAC Tech Preview

By John San Filippo

For nearly 30 years, through 2007, the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) was held at the Washington (D.C.) Hilton, a venue most famous for the 1981 assassination attempt of President Ronald Reagan. For the last couple of years at the Hilton, the GAC had become so popular for exhibitors, many had to set up their booths in outdoor temporary tent-like structures, which was especially challenging when it snowed.

Starting in 2008, CUNA moved the GAC two miles southeast to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, where there is ample room for exhibitors in a single exhibit hall. Each year, with the understandable exception of a Covid-induced anomaly, the GAC has grown in popularity with attendees and exhibitors alike. Here are some numbers from CUNA regarding GAC 2023:

• Representatives from nearly 1,000 credit unions in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and nine countries

• 33 U.S. credit union leagues

• More than 300 providers and system supporters

• 60 young professional “Crashers”

• 200 speakers

• 336 exhibit hall booths

• More than 600 meetings with members of Congress and other officials

• A positive economic impact of more than $800 million to the Washington, D.C., area

While the conference, by definition, is focused on governmental affairs, the exhibit hall has long been dominated by technology vendors. Finopotamus asked several tech vendors why GAC is so popular with the tech crowd.

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Wendi Klein

"GAC has always been an event where you can expect to see all of the key influencers in the credit union industry,” said Alogent (Booth 1240) Vice President of Marketing & Communications Wendi Klein. “It's a time for technology innovators to showcase their 'latest and greatest,' meet potential new partners, and to hear directly from the market.”

Shanon McLachlan

“CUNA’s GAC continues to be one of the industry’s most consistent and reputable conferences, which is why Jack Henry is an avid supporter and sponsor of the event,” added Jack Henry (Booth 226) President of Credit Union Solutions Shanon McLachlan. “Its focus on supporting the credit union movement inspires collaboration and innovation between credit unions and financial service providers to improve the financial lives of their members. Having an open forum to hear and learn from peers about their strategies and use of technologies, as well as advocacy efforts, is essential to the long-term growth and success of our industry.”

According to McLachlan, Jack Henry is putting its money where its mouth is, so to speak. “As part of that commitment, Jack Henry will donate $10 to the National Credit Union Foundation for every credit union that takes our pledge to improve financial health for their members and communities,” he told Finopotamus.

Sabeh Samaha

“Technology companies attending GAC will remain very important as long as the technology revolution remains underway,” said Sabeh Samaha, CEO of Samaha & Associates (Booth 240). “For us at Samaha & Associates, attending GAC has been a tradition for as long I can remember. We look forward to attending GAC as we get to be with so many friends, colleagues and partners at the same time and in the same place. There is truly nothing like it!”

Craig McLaughlin

“The Government Affairs Conference brings more C-level leadership together from the credit union community than any other conference,” noted Craig McLaughlin, CEO of Finalytics.ai (Booth 617). “It represents the strongest opportunity for us to engage in dialogue with senior level executives that are setting the strategy for the organization and are interested in understanding what tools are available to accelerate the achievement of those key strategic goals.”

McLaughlin continued, “The C-suite is busy and inundated with thoughtless outreach from multiple fronts. This event offers an opportunity to cut through the noise and have real conversations about what credit union leaders are trying to make happen.”

Siva Narendra

“GAC attracts a mass of leadership of credit unions in one place, since it dovetails the hiking of the hill, an important show of strength for this not-for-profit industry to maintain its tax status and membership benefits,” observed Tyfone (Booth 622) CEO Siva Narendra. “This gives serious brand exposure to companies (tech or not) that see credit unions as prospective partners and customers.”

Kristin Hunter

“For the team at boost.ai, CUNA GAC is one of our can't-miss events of the year,” said boost.ai (Booth 1117) Senior Director of Marketing Kristin Hunter, echoing a common sentiment. “It allows us the opportunity to connect with our customers in-person, a relatively rare occurrence in today's increasingly digital world.”

Below is a partial list of GAC 2023 exhibitors, both tech and non-tech.

A-B | C-D | E-H | I-N | O-Z

A-B

· 3i Infotech

· AACUC

· Access Softek

· ACI Worldwide

· AKUVO

· Alacriti

· Alkami

· Allied Payment Network

· Allied Solutions, LLC

· Alloya Corporate Federal Credit Union

· ALM First

· Alogent

· Alpine Leadership

· Amazon Business

· American Share Insurance/Excess Share Insurance

· America's Credit Union Museum

· ampliFI Loyalty Solutions

· Angott Search Group

· Apiture

· Arkatechture

· Array

· ASA

· Auto Exam/Vision Warranty Corp

· Auto Financial Group

· Auto Link

· AvidXchange

· Backbase

· Bankjoy

· BenefisCU powered by TriscendNP

· Boost.ai

· Brean Capital, LLC

C-D

· Callahan & Associates

· Caribou

· Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union

· Cenlar

· The Center for Senior Benefits

· Children's Miracle Network Hospitals

· Cognerium

· CommunityAmerica Credit Union

· Conductiv, Inc.

· Connexion Central

· Constant

· Cook Solutions Group

· Co-op Solutions

· Cooperative Business Services LLC

· Copper Financial Network, LLC

· Corelation Inc

· Cornerstone Advisors

· Cornerstone Resources

· Council of Federal Home Loan Banks

· CourseMark

· Coviance

· Credit Union Compliance Management System PLUS

· Credit Union Executives Society

· Credit Union National Association

· Credit Union Student Choice

· Credit Union Times

· Crescent Mortgage

· CSI

· CU Solutions Group

· CU*SOUTH

· CUCollaborate

· CU-Interface

· CULA, LLC

· CUNA Mutual Group

· CUTEK

· D. Hilton Associates, Inc.

· DDJ Myers

· DefenseStorm

· DEI Incorporated

· Diebold Nixdorf

· Digital Check Corp.

· Doeren Mayhew

· Dollar Associates, LLC

· Dolphin Debit Access, LLC

· DoubleCheck

· Doxim

E-H

· Eclipse Brand Builders

· Econocheck

· eCU Technology

· Elan Credit Card

· Eltropy

· EmpowerFi

· Endurium LLC

· Engage fi

· Entrust

· Envisant

· Equifax

· equipifi

· EVERFI from Blackbaud

· Elan Credit Card

· Eltropy

· EmpowerFi

· Endurium LLC

· Engage fi

· Entrust

· Envisant

· Equifax

· equipifi

· EVERFI from Blackbaud

· Feathr

· Federal Reserve Financial Services

· Finalytics.ai

· Financial Supermarkets

· FIS

· Fiserv

· FLEX

· Focus Strategy Group

· Franklin Madison

· Frost Financial Services, Inc.

· FTSI

· Gallagher Executive Benefits

· Glia

· Greater Commercial Lending

· GreenCheck Verified

· GreenPath Financial Wellness

· GrooveCar Inc

· Haberfeld

· Humanidei + O'Rourke

· Hyosung

I-N

· ICI Consulting

· IDIQ

· Ignite Sales, Inc

· iLending

· Inclusiv

· inLighten

· interface.ai

· Invo Solutions

· IWS

· Jack Henry

· JMFA

· Kane Graphical

· Kasasa

· KBRA

· Keeley Construction

· KellMoore & Associates

· La Macchia Group

· Lanvera

· LemonadeLXP

· Lending Solutions

· LEVEL5

· LoanStreet

· Lucro Commercial Solutions

· Lumin Digital

· Mahalo Banking

· MANTL

· Marquis

· Mastercard

· McQueen Financial Advisors

· Member Access Processing

· Members Trust Company

· Mercury Mechanical Protection

· MeridianLink

· MessagePay

· Momentum

· National Cooperative Bank

· National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA In

· nCino

· NCR

· NetGiver

· Neural Payments

· NewGround

· NewtekOne

· NextBranch

· NFP Financial Institution Group

O-Z

· Oak Tree Business Systems Inc.

· OM Financial Group

· Open Lending

· Origence

· Paymentus

· PDC

· Performance Trust

· Personetics

· PFP Schmitt Sussman Enterprises

· Plansmith

· Premier Consumer Capital

· PrintMail Solutions

· Prisma Campaigns

· Prodigy

· Protective Asset Protection

· PSCU

· Pulsate

· Q2

· QSI

· Quilo

· Quinte Financial Technologies Inc.

· QwickRate

· Raisin

· The Redmond Company

· Reseda Group

· Rivial Data Security

· Rochdale

· Samaha & Associates, Inc.

· Santander US Capital Markets LLC

· SavvyMoney

· Scienaptic AI

· SEI Sphere

· Sharetec

· Shazam

· The Sheeter Group

· SimplyFocused

· Smith and Wilkinson

· Sogolytics

· State National Companies

· Stearns Financial

· Stellar Financial Group

· Stifel

· Strategic Resource Management, Inc.

· StrategyCorps

· Strum Agency

· Suntell

· SWBC

· Titan Armored

· T-Mobile/Amtel CU

· Topaz Systems, Inc.

· Trellance, Inc.

· TriscendNP

· TruHome Solutions

· tyfone

· Ultracs Corp

· Union Credit

· United Solutions Company Inc

· Upgrade

· Velocity Solutions

· Venminder

· Vericast

· ViClarity

· Visa

· VisiFI

· Vizo Financial

· VolCorp

· WITHCLUTCH

· Zest AI

· Zogo