%201.webp)
Goodbuy has won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2026 in New York City. The award was decided by audience vote after live product demonstrations.
The Boise-based company offers a small-business rewards platform for financial institutions, particularly credit unions. Its presentation showed how local business engagement can help financial institutions drive account activation, deposits, and interchange income through what it calls connected community commerce.
The recognition follows a USD $1 million investment earlier this year from a group of credit union partners, including Georgia's Own Credit Union. Goodbuy had already signed contracts with credit unions and launched in the sector before appearing on the Finovate stage.
Goodbuy registered as a Credit Union Service Organisation after launching in the credit union movement in 2025. The company was founded in 2021 by Cara Oppenheimer and Cary Fortin.
Its model centres on a white-label marketplace that links local small businesses with a financial institution's members or customers. Small businesses gain access to that audience, while members receive discounts for shopping locally online and in person.
For financial institutions, the model is designed to deepen ties with small businesses without increasing headcount or replacing existing systems. Goodbuy also argues that it can help institutions attract new deposits and non-interest income from a segment that is often harder to reach.
Credit union backing
Goodbuy described the award as external validation of a strategy that had already gained support from credit unions. That backing is notable because credit unions have often used collaborative structures such as Credit Union Service Organisations to invest in products they believe can serve members and extend their commercial reach.
"Credit unions saw what this could be before anyone else did," said Cara Oppenheimer, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Goodbuy.
"A group of them signed contracts, invested their own money, and put Goodbuy in front of their members while most of the industry was still asking what community commerce even meant. This week's win belongs to them as much as it does to us."
Finovate organisers also said the live demonstration was key to the result. Best of Show awards at the event are decided by attendees rather than a judging panel.
"Financial institutions have traditionally had to build small-business engagement from scratch," said Greg Palmer, Vice President and Host of Finovate.
"Goodbuy is proving there's a faster way, turning a financial institution's own local footprint into a ready-made growth channel. Best of Show at Finovate is decided entirely by audience vote, not a panel, and Goodbuy's demo clearly resonated strongly with our attendees. Congrats to the Goodbuy team on a well-deserved win!"
Founders' approach
Oppenheimer came to financial technology from a different background than many founders in the sector. Before starting Goodbuy, she spent nearly two decades as a Creative Director at agencies including Omnicom and Interpublic Group.
That experience shaped a product approach focused on how members interact with both their financial institution and local businesses, rather than only on banking infrastructure. Goodbuy has argued that community-based commerce can become a growth channel for institutions that want stronger local relationships but lack the scale to build such programmes internally.
The company has also received other industry recognition, including NACUSO's Next Big Idea competition, a pitch competition at the Reseda Summit, and selection for the Filene Fi-Lab cohort. Those endorsements, alongside the investment from credit union partners, suggest Goodbuy's pitch has found support both within the credit union sector and among a broader fintech audience.
Georgia's Own Credit Union's involvement points to a broader pattern among Goodbuy's backers: institutions willing to invest in tools aimed at helping members shop locally while creating a closer link between consumer activity and small-business banking relationships.
Goodbuy says its platform gives participating businesses access to a customer base they may struggle to reach through traditional marketing, while financial institutions can use the marketplace to support member offers and business account acquisition. The company has positioned that mix of local discounts, merchant exposure, and financial institution distribution as the basis for its growth in the credit union market.