As college students head back to school, ICBA and community bankers are encouraging them to be responsible when using their credit cards so they can maintain their finances and establish solid credit. In a national news release that community bankers can customize for their local media, ICBA offered tips to help students use credit cards wisely.

The release encourages college students to set up and follow a budget that includes paying off their credit card balance, to keep their account information safe and confidential, and to consider making payments online to ensure they are received on time. Read ICBA Release. Access Custom Release.

The federal banking regulators announced that they are considering delaying annual stress-testing requirements for institutions with between $10 billion and $50 billion in assets until September 2013. The agencies had previously proposed requiring the stress tests immediately upon the issuance of a final rule. The agencies said that the delay would help ensure that all covered institutions have sufficient time to develop sound stress testing programs. The final implementation timeline will be specified in the final rule.

The credit quality of large loan commitments owned by financial institutions improved in 2012 for the third consecutive year, according to the federal banking regulators’ Shared National Credits Review for 2012. The volume of criticized loans declined 8.1 percent from 2011 to $295 billion.

The regulators said that the improvement in credit quality was due to better operating performance among borrowers, debt restructurings, bankruptcy resolutions, and ongoing access to bond and equity markets. Despite this progress, poorly underwritten loans originated in 2006 and 2007 continued to adversely affect the portfolio, the regulators said.

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