Southwest personal banker James Gottemoller gave a presentation titled “What Is Credit?” to eighth graders at North Middle School in Menomonee Falls on May 15.

In the presentation, James discussed types of credit, credit scores, and the importance of building good credit. He also talked about what the students could do now to prepare for using credit responsibly as adults, and warned them about financial fraud.

“I gave an example of a customer needing to borrow $10 to help the students get exposed to what a credit score is,” he said. He explained that if the customer had poor credit, the bank wouldn’t be able to lend them the money. If the customer’s credit score was fair to good, the bank could agree to the loan, but require collateral, like holding on to their cell phone until the customer could repay them. A customer with a high credit score would get the loan without collateral.

“Two different students gave the example that they could hold their brother’s Xbox as collateral,” James said.

James spoke to about 115 students across four classes and spent the whole day at school. He said they asked good questions, like “What is an overdraft?” and “Why does the credit bureau charge for a credit score?” and also wanted to know if he’d ever been in a bank robbery. “I said yes, but asked the class not to share with my son and daughter at school, because we never shared it with them,” he said.