WASHINGTON – CO-OP Financial Services turned its exhibit hall booth into a payments hall of history, offering upsomething different for those attending CUNA's GovernmentalAffairs Conference at the Washington Convention Center. The GACexhibit hall open to attendees Sunday.

The four-part historical exhibit was designed to mimic theexperience Washington's national museums provide to visitors, saidSamantha Paxson, vice president of marketing at the RanchoCucamonga, Calif.-based firm.

And, with the exhibit's graphic walls, audio narratives,interactive touch screens and docent booth attendants, CO-OPachieved that goal.

From bartering perishable goods to CO-OP's newest service thatallows consumers to set security parameters on their credit unioncards, payments innovation throughout history has always beendriven by two things, Paxson said: convenience and security.

And, she added, those two drivers still impact payments industryinnovation today.

The exhibit will develop throughout GAC, as one section surveysattendees regarding their knowledge, product and service offeringsand thoughts about credit union positioning in payments, andupdates a large video board with the results.

The exhibit treads back into trade show territory with NexGenATM demonstrations and interactive touch screen presentations ofcurrent and future CO-OP payments solutions.

In particular, CO-OP is touting two new products that includeSprig, an app that consolidates accounts across credit unions, anda card controls and alerts feature for consumers.

The card controls feature will alow members to take actionimmediately and in real time when they suspect fraud on theiraccounts, said Manager of Strategic Business Solutions Kim Swift,who was working the booth Sunday. The service even allows membersto set geographical transaction parameters using GPS technology,Swift added, so transactions attempted outside the geographic areacould be blocked, providing security from data thieves.

In addition to the history lesson, CO-OP's booth pays attendeesto complete activities in all four exhibit sections $5; or,alternatively, CO-OP will donate $10 to Children's Miracle Networkinstead. In a nod to another popular exhibit hall draw, GACattendees can collect stamps from CO-OP business partner booths toenter into a drawing for a $1,000 MasterCard gift card.

CUNA's GAC runs through Wednesday.