With incidents of ATM skimming on the rise, the American Bankers Association is taking action to protect its members.

Last week, ABA announced an expansion of its Bank Capture system to help banks around the country track trends in ATM skimming, which involves the use of a device to grab users’ personal information and card numbers. The Bank Capture system will also now track other types of theft using ATMs, such as the use of malware, card trapping, and “shimming,” which involves the use of an illicit card reader. Even incidents of vandalism will be included.

The initiative expands on an ongoing effort for the trade group, which has operated ABA Bank Capture since 2011 [PDF] as a way to allow banks to track crime data in real time.

In a news release, ABA Senior Vice President of Payments and Cybersecurity Policy Doug Johnson noted that the addition of skimming to Bank Capture came about because the problem was growing more serious.

“ATM skimming can be a costly crime for banks, and it’s becoming more and more sophisticated,” Johnson explained. “Studies show that criminals steal 10 times more money in the average skim versus the average bank robbery. This new feature will be an incredibly helpful tool to help banks track patterns of criminal activity and effective preventative measures.”

The ABA Bank Capture system covers nearly 60 percent of the 91,000 bank branches in the United States, with the goal of helping banks around the country avoid incidents of crime.

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