American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

Greg Carmichael, who has been on the job nearly a year as Fifth Third's CEO, has started putting his stamp on the company by aggressively trimming branches in favor of mobile, seeking to build up its consumer credit business and retooling the balance sheet.

Independent Bank in Rockland, Mass., has agreed to buy Island Bancorp in Edgartown, Mass.

In a move designed to help further calm lender fears about mortgage repurchase liability, Fannie Mae is preparing to offer immediate representation and warranty relief to lenders that use its suite of automated quality assurance technology.

Signature and BankUnited had warned of weakness in their medallion portfolios for months but had resisted taking drastic measures. Things changed when large borrowers started to miss payments.

Equity Bancshares in Wichita, Kan., has agreed to buy Prairie State Bancshares in Hoxie, Kan.

Bank of America has entered into a strategic partnership with digital payments firm ModoPayments that will give the bank access to Modo's digital payments hub.

The Wells Fargo scandal is an example of what happens when a system requires you to effectively hand over the keys to your identity to strangers as if you were giving them your car keys. Moreover, it is a call to banks to restore trust and become leaders in fixing the ID problem once and for all.

Mary Mack is beginning damage control as she overhauls Wells' sales culture; Dorothy Savarese talks diversity of bank sizes as she becomes chairman of the ABA; and Elizabeth Warren implores the president to demote Mary Jo White. Also, industry manbassadors talk work-life balance and the importance of flexibility for women as Visa's CEO resigns to devote more time to family. And a couple of small activist firms are taking on gender bias at the world's largest companies.

The California company plans to hire a second chief credit officer to specify monitor commercial lending and specialty lines. At least one analyst said the changes, which also include adjustments to credit policies, calls into question the company's strategic director and growth trajectory.

The company believes it is done making acquisitions in its home state. The next phase of growth will likely involve deals and strategic hiring in large urban markets across the Southeast.

Signature Bank in New York reported a sharp decline in quarterly profits after suffering steep losses on its Chicago portfolio of taxi medallion loans.

Rather than continuing to invest in inclusion initiatives that fail to drive diversity, banks should embrace these three programs instead.

Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati reported higher third-quarter profit on the termination of tax receivables from its Vantiv payments subsidiary and several other one-time items.

BancorpSouth in Tupelo, Miss., reported higher third-quarter earnings after net interest and fee revenue improved from a year earlier.

American Express Co., the largest U.S. credit-card issuer by purchases, posted third-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates and raised its full-year forecast for profitability.

The California Department of Justice is investigating Wells Fargo for allegations of criminal identity theft.

Cross-selling abuses are not systemic and honest bankers are still important to society, the head of the Minneapolis bank said in an apparent reference to the scandal at Wells Fargo.

Record deposit growth, improved expense management and strong revenue gains from mortgage banking boosted Umpqua Holdings’ profits in the third quarter.

Executives of at least a half dozen regional banks have spent time on earnings calls updating cost-cutting plans in great detail or defending selective spending increases — even when the extra dollars are supposed to save money or make more money in the long run.