Landmark Credit Union, Arrowhead students partner to curb ATM skimming

Bank, students partner to curb ATM skimming

Landmark Credit Union and Arrowhead High School students partnered to design a product to limit card skimming at ATMs.

HARTLAND, Wis. - Crooks can steal your card data at the ATM – it’s called skimming.

The FBI estimates it costs consumers more than $1 billion each year. A local credit union’s solution to this problem came from a classroom.

What we know:

Students in Arrowhead Union High School’s Warhawk Engineering and Manufacturing Department aren’t just working for a grade – they’re working for a client.

In September, Landmark Credit Union came to students with a challenge.

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Landmark needed to upgrade its outdoor ATMs to stop crooks from placing cameras on its machines. By skimming, criminals are then able to access your pin and account information.

This is the second year Landmark has worked with the class. Last year’s project was to update signature pad mounts for Landmark’s teller stations.

What they're saying:

Senior Gavin Dai led the class project this year.

"The idea was they wanted us to create a cover for them that would help prevent these criminals from getting the PIN codes people were putting in," Dai said. "I think the whole like, design and applying the design to the real world was one of the biggest things I learned."

There were dozens of smaller problems his team had to solve. The students went through several prototypes before landing on a final design.

Dig deeper:

Then they built the protectors in their classroom workshop, from laser-cutting the metal to bending it into place.

Students developed a PIN pad protector that successfully offers privacy when someone enters a PIN at an outside ATM. The final design was chosen for its functionality, durability and ease of installation.

"They are getting a behind the scenes of what it takes to run a business," manufacturing and engineering teacher Anthony Christian said. "And what’s my part and how does that go into the bigger picture?"

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Why It Matters:

Landmark was so happy with the result, the company bought 75 units from the class. On Tuesday, May 20, Landmark delivered a check. Nearly $10,000 will go toward a general scholarship fund for these students.

"You have a client, and they are paying real money – they know the scholarship they get at the end of the year goes toward making that real," Christian said.

It’s a lesson paying off in more ways than one.