PSCU's new social media platform, Make Your Money Matter, was recently named the best educational resources website and a top five finalist for the people's choice award at the 2014 South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival.

The annual event, which celebrates music, film and emerging technology, drew more than 30,000 people to Austin, Texas, earlier this month.

“We knew we were pushing the boundaries when we created Make Your Money Matter as a platform to help our member-owner credit unions connect to the millennial generation where they live – in the digital world,” said Fredda McDonald, executive vice president and chief creative officer of the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based CUSO. “It is nice to have digital marketing experts, like the judges at SXSW, validate that we are on the right road with the quality of the platform we are building.”

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Make Your Money Matter, which debuted last fall, includes a shareable calculation tool that allows users to see how much big bank shareholders profit. Users are encouraged to share information via Facebook, Twitter and other channels.

The platform has also earned other awards for design, content and interactivity, including a Gold ADDY Award from the American Advertising Federation, PSCU said.

The CUSO collaborated with New York City-based digital agency, Firstborn, on the site's design, content and functionality.

“Our goal was to not only explain the benefits of joining a credit union, but to do so in a way that was really approachable,” said Gabe Garner, senior vice president of digital development for Firstborn. “Illustration has always been a good way to set this up and flows nicely between a linear video story and an interactive one.”

PSCU launched the platform in November 2013 at eight institutions: the $2.3 billion Redwood Credit Union in Santa Rosa, Calif.; the $1.6 billion GTE Financial in Tampa, Fla.; the $2 billion Baxter Credit Union in Vernon Hills, Ill.; the $817 million Firstmark Credit Union in San Antonio; the $5.4 billion Bethpage Federal Credit Union in Bethpage, N.Y.; the $676 million Michigan First Credit Union in Lathrup Village, Mich. ; the $3.4 billion OnPoint Community Credit Union in Portland, Ore.; and, the $471 million Mazuma Credit Union in Kansas City, Mo.

During the first eight weeks of the beta launch, which ended Jan. 1, metrics trended well above anticipated benchmarks, garnering over 31 million unique impressions on Facebook, according to PSCU.

To determine the success, PSCU closely analyzed data and measured metrics in several key areas, the CUSO said.

Based on the success of the initial test, PSCU said it plans to introduce the platform to its entire member base of 1,500 financial institutions, including 700 credit unions, at April's MoPRO 2014 member conference in Las Vegas.

“The future for credit unions lies in their ability to do what they do best today – take care of the financial needs of their members – but to do so in new ways digitally,” McDonald said. “Make Your Money Matter can assist by enabling them to attract, educate and engage a new generation of consumers by highlighting their enormous value using social media.”