Four credit unions across the country have been selected aswinners of a contest designed to educate young members andencourage youth to join credit unions.

NerdWallet, a personal finance analysis site, recently announcedthe winners of its 2013 Gen Y Credit Union Contest, which awardedgrants to credit unions that submitted a “commencement speech tothe Class of 2013 and a proposal detailing how the funds would bespent to increase financial literacy among youth,” the companysaid.

According to NerdWallet, the winners and their proposals include:

• Christian Financial Credit Union of Roseville, Mich. – GrandPrize Winner ($2,000)

The $288 million, 35,000-member Christian Financial plans toconduct a social media scavenger hunt that will introduce membersto the credit union's products and services online and then segueinto an in-person scavenger hunt throughout the local community, asmembers use photo clues posted by credit union staff to discoverlocations related to credit union services. The second part oftheir proposal involves producing a series of financial literacyvideos to better educate their Gen Y members.

• Cooperative Federal Credit Union in Syracuse, N.Y. –Runner-Up Prize ($1,000)

The $20 million, 4,000-member CooperativeFCU'sproposal includes launching a team-based Savings Challenge foryouth during the coming school year. Students will divide intoteams, become credit union members, open savings accounts andestablish a savings goal, such as college expenses or a weekendtrip. Teams will be scored based on total savings and the number ofdeposits.

• PremierOne Credit Union in San Jose, Calif. – Special Prize($1,000)

The $334 million, 25,000-member PremierOne said it intends toturn its Credit Zone program into an interactive online communityfor Gen Y by expanding current services, producing more videos andimplementing a point system for online interactions, such as weeklyquizzes or credit union branch check-ins. Points would beredeemable for Credit Zone “swag” such as sweatshirts, notebooksand t-shirts.

• Financial One Credit Union in Columbia Heights, Minn. – SpecialPrize ($1000)

The $62 million, 7,200-member Financial One Credit Union wantsto launch a campaign to promote a “Making Cents out of Life”blog, with articles about maintaining financial health at differentstages of life and examples of how maintaining good credit isimportant at any age. Community youth will be encouraged to visit acredit union branch to talk about credit and enter a quarterlydrawing for prizes.