In early April in Boston, I happened by the annual conference and competition of the Massachusetts School Bank Association (MSBA). Two hundred eighty-four students from 30 high schools competed in three segments: product design, marketing, and a quiz show that covered financial literacy topics. The MSBA is an association of schools with financial literacy programs and financial institutions that operate educational branch offices in schools.

I learned that next-gen security is firmly within the sights of the next gen of Massachusetts bankers. The conference theme of “personal financial security” played out in each segment. It was clear that the organizers—high school teachers and executives at financial institutions—had the financial safety of the next gen firmly in view:

  • The trivia contest consisted of general banking and personal finance questions including questions related to identity theft awareness, financial fraud, and financial cybersecurity.
  • The marketing challenge tackled the need to educate customers about security and, according to the prompt, "the need to use good security practices and tools to protect [customers] from identity theft and/or fraudulent use of their accounts."
  • In product design, the winning team from Taunton High School designed an app to help students determine if they were more or less likely to be victims of identity theft.

I chatted with students from Chelsea High School about their app: "Are you smarter than a fraudster?" Teaching others is a good way to learn yourself, and these young people were on top of best practices for protecting their payments cards (don't give out info in email or on the phone), preventing identity theft (shred documents), and keeping email safe (don't click on links from unknown parties).

When they aren't designing apps, the Chelsea students work as interns at the Chelsea High School branch of Metro Credit Union.

What is your bank doing to educate the next gen of security ninjas?