Home / Payment security
For shoppers and businesses
Payment security, on both sides of the counter.
Card skimmers hurt shoppers and stores alike. This is the plain guide: how to protect yourself with the free app, and how to protect your business with checks that run on the phones and Wi-Fi you already have.
The problem
What a card skimmer does.
A skimmer is a small device a thief adds to a gas pump, an ATM or a checkout reader. It copies your card, usually with a tiny camera or fake keypad to catch your PIN. Most newer ones send the stolen data over a wireless signal, so the thief never has to come back. Your card keeps working, so you don't know until strange charges show up. That wireless signal is what SkimGuard listens for.
For shoppers
A skimmer check in your pocket.
The free SkimGuard app listens for skimmers near where you're about to pay and gives you one clear result. Anonymous results build the free public safety map. Checks at your home stay private.
- 🟢 Good: checked, and nothing suspicious found. A good sign, not a guarantee.
- 🟡 Warning: something worth a closer look before you pay.
- 🔴 Alert: a likely skimmer nearby. Use a different machine, or pay inside.
Android phones can pick up a few older kinds of skimmer that iPhones can't, because Apple limits what iPhone apps can listen for.
Use it with the basics: wiggle the reader, tap or chip instead of swiping, credit not debit, and cover the keypad. Guides: gas pumps · ATMs · road trips
For businesses
Protect your readers, and your customers' trust.
Phone checks
Staff check each reader with the SkimGuard app, for example when opening or closing. Runs on the Android phones and handhelds stores already have. Great for single stores and pumps.
Always-on checks
Your business Wi-Fi (Cisco Meraki, Juniper Mist, HPE Aruba, Ruckus or Cisco Catalyst) or your lane computers watch all the time. See network integrations.
Both share one dashboard, and your store gets a Protected pin on the public map.
Every business plan includes the inspection logbook: a list of your card readers, guided checks with photos, reminders, and a one-tap export when your card processor or anyone asks for proof. It helps you keep the record.
Pricing
Small Business
$25/mo per location
Staff check up to 5 card readers with the SkimGuard app.
Standard
$50/mo per location
Up to 20 card readers, plus $5/mo for each reader over 20.
Always-on
Through your Wi-Fi
Already run business Wi-Fi? It can watch every reader around the clock. See network integrations.
Free for shoppers. Simple for stores.
Shoppers get the app free. Stores get phone checks or always-on checks at every location.