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American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. As excerpted from the Comments sections of AmericanBanker.com articles.

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On Consumer Financial Protection Bureau staff evaluations showing sharp racial disparities:

"Just because you can create a statistical disparity does not mean there is a problem. This is the flaw with disparate impact."

Related Article: CFPB Staff Evaluations Show Sharp Racial Disparities

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On the CFPB eliminating its employee evaluation program after racial disparities were uncovered:

"Hard to justify the management philosophy of an agency dedicated to fair treatment of consumers when it translates into unfair treatment of its employees."

Related Article: CFPB to Drop Contentious Employee Evaluation Program

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On the notion that strategy is killing bank innovation:

"Properly practiced strategic management is not an exercise, but a way of thinking that drives day-to-day decision-making towards the achievement of objectives."

Related Article: An Obsession with Strategy Is Killing Bank Innovation

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On Wells Fargo launching a web magazine for customers:

"This is simply brand storytelling … there is so much more that bank brands can be doing to truly demonstrate a commitment to their communities."

Related Article: Wells Fargo Launches Web Magazine, Seeks 'Deeper' Ties with Customers

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On the notion that strategy is killing innovation in banking:

"Bankers obsessed with strategy? I estimate that far less than 10% of the 7,000 banks have any kind of strategy."

Related Article: An Obsession with Strategy Is Killing Bank Innovation

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On keeping branches open for customers who want to bank via multiple channels:

"Unlike retail stores that generate revenue each time a consumer engages in a transaction, banks generate operating losses … To branch or not to branch is not a decision that will be driven by 'what customers want.'"

Related Article: Consumers Want Multiple Ways to Bank

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On the notion that consumers want to bank via multiple channels:

"Most bankers see and want each new channel to be a replacement for a previous channel: a way to reduce pesky customer contacts and save their way into prosperity. While the reality is that every delivery channel is incremental to what has gone before. Were this not so, we wouldn't still be using pennies."

Related Article: Consumers Want Multiple Ways to Bank

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On the importance of design in digital banking:

"Leading banks are already working to make their sites mobile friendly. The ones who really 'get' mobile are following the 'mobile first' paradigm and building responsive web-designed sites for their customers."

Related Article: Why Design Matters More than Ever in Digital Banking

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On Washington's role in the housing sector:

"Washington wanted to micromanage the mortgage market...and now they've broken it. And as the saying goes, 'you break it, you own it!'"

Related Article: U.S. Housing Sector Is in Big Trouble

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On Washington's role in the housing sector:

"Bankers and servicers are now crying in their artisanal beer. After all, isn't it all a problem created by the regulators: robosigning, fraudulent assignments … yes, we in the financial services industry bear no blame, after all we're just after that elusive buck."

Related Article: U.S. Housing Sector Is in Big Trouble

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