Texas Border Business
Brownsville, Texas – This month, IBC Bank employees hosted 49 free financial literacy presentations in celebration of Get Smart About Credit Day. The presentations reached 1,457 students, adults and seniors in the 89 communities that IBC Bank serves in Oklahoma and Texas.
“IBC Bank believes that the banking industry has an obligation to ensure that the communities they serve have access to financial education tools and resources, so that all generations are equipped to lead fiscally responsible lives,” explains Dennis E. Nixon, Chairman and CEO of IBC Bank. “IBC’s efforts to bridge the financial literacy gap facing our country is ongoing, but we are particularly proud to participate in the national Get Smart About Credit observance.”
IBC Bank employees across Texas and Oklahoma presented financial literacy programs to groups ranging from high school and college students, to veterans, low income housing residents and chambers of commerce.
The Get Smart About Credit program, sponsored by the American Bankers Association (ABA) Community Engagement Foundation, is a national campaign of volunteer bankers who work with communities to raise awareness about the importance of using credit wisely. Other topics featured in the programs include Banking Careers, Knowing Your Credit Score, Protecting Your Identity, Paying of College and Managing Your Money. Bankers across the country participated in the 17th annual Get Smart About Credit campaign.
Although the U.S. is the world’s largest economy, the Standard & Poor’s Global Financial Literacy Survey ranks the U.S. #14 when measuring the proportion of adults in the country who are financially literate.
According to a recent WalletHub survey, Texas ranks 25th and Oklahoma 46th out of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, in a ranking of residents’ financial savvy. Texas also ranks among the states with the lowest share of adults with emergency funds and highest share of adults borrowing from nonbank lenders. The rankings were based on 17 key metrics ranging from high-school financial literacy grade to share of adults with rainy-day funds.
“IBC Bank employees are passionate about financial literacy and always look forward to participating in Get Smart About Credit programs because they understand that teaching these principles could be a turning point in someone’s future and could lead them towards financial stability,” explained Nixon.
IBC Bank’s commitment to “Do More” in the communities they serve can be seen in their ongoing efforts to provide financial literacy training to school-aged children, adults and senior citizens. IBC believes in the importance and power of education and understands that the sooner individuals adopt good financial habits, the better chance they will have of leading stable and successful financial lives.
