NEW YORK­—A highlight of each Finovate technology showcase hasbeen the Best of Show Award, determined by audience ballot andannounced as the event closes. Best of Show winners are not putinto order of importance by Finovate, and this year was noexception: Seven were chosen, with none designated as the best ofthe best.

Some Best of Show winners had no immediate pertinence to creditunions, but some did. And, based on informal discussion with creditunion attendees during breaks, some of the presentations that didnot necessarily wow the full audience did make an impression onthem.

Loud applause went to MX (aka MoneyDesktop) which won a Best of Show from Finovatefor its new personal financial management tools that aim to delivera cross-platform experience with an app that looks similar as usersmove from device to device. MX also, in a big innovation, gives acredit union the ability to let non-members download and use itsbranded version of the MX app, thus providing a new memberrecruitment hook.

Many credit union executives said they were wowed by MX, whichdeveloped its new tools with the $12.5 billion BECU in Tukwila,Wash., and the $6.2 billion America First in Riverdale,Utah.

Another Finovate Best of Show winner was NICE Systems, the Israeli company that launched tools that letfinancial institutions passively collect voice prints fromcustomers who call in, and later use them to authenticate thecustomer's identity within a few seconds.

The plus to NICE Systems' tools is there is no need for a memberto enroll in the program. Enrollment happens on the fly, as memberscall in.

Multiple credit union executives said they intended to considerimplementing the new technology.

One expressed skepticism that the voice print would alwayswork.

“Over a cellphone? When the member has a bad cold?” the creditunion leader questioned.

A NICE Systems executive also conceded in an informationinterview that calls into phone centers usually trigger anannouncement that “this call may be recorded for trainingpurposes,” which paves the way legally for recording a customer'svoice. However, training purposes do not cover biometricauthentication, and at some financial institutions, lawyers areinvestigating those distinctions before moving forward adopting thetechnology.

A third “Best of Show” winner was Anchor ID, a tiny, fiveemployee start-up in Kingston, N.Y. that has envisioned a worldwith no passwords or user IDs. With Anchor ID, a user gets auniversal ID, good at all participating sites, and the user'ssmartphone becomes, in Anchor ID's words, “the anchor forauthentication.”

Further explained, a smartphone has multiple unique featuresthat serve as a kind of fingerprint.

Anchor ID also applies its own recipe for authentication, andadditionally, the company said its tools are flexible enough to addin biometric measures (such as voice or fingerprint) if needed.

Yet another Best of Show winner that also won praise from creditunion executives was the Austin, Texas-based Toopher, anothertwo-factor authentication company whose platform builds onsmartphone location awareness.

“Toopher will allow clients to provide their customers withinvisible authentication for logins and critical actions. Toopherincorporates biometrics into the authentication process,” thecompany said.

Toopher is also smart enough to identify locations, such as homeand work, where a user is known to feel safe. It can also recognizelocations that are not necessarily safe, like public spaces such asairports and hotels.

One company that was not named a Best of Show but elicitedpraise from multiple credit union executives was Austin,Texas-based mobile app developer Malauzai. The credit union mobilebanking favorite debuted tools that aim to free financialinstitutions from separate online and mobile banking contracts, andtheir associated costs. The Malauzai tool runs mobile apps inside a browser on a desktop orlaptop, allowing institutions to offer both mobile and onlinebanking with only one product.

Co-founder Robb Gaynor said at the event that onlinebanking is marginalized. He further explained his statement, sayingthat means online banking's days are numbered.

Next Spring, another 70 or so companies will hit the Finovatestage in San Jose and the fintech innovation beat will go on.