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.

The $1.5 billion-asset Equity said in a press release Thursday that it will pay $68.8 million in cash and stock for the $475 million-asset parent of Community First Bank.

Lobbyists for the credit union industry are decrying a proposal to limit forced arbitration clauses despite ample evidence that credit unions don’t use such clauses in the first place.

That’s the message that two funds have for directors of Commonwealth Business Bank in Los Angeles.

Loans tied to franchises were often an area of concern for banks before the financial crisis. Industry growth, improved credit metrics and a need to diversify commercial loan portfolios are prompting several banks to take a second look at the business.

Congress should abandon the idea of repealing a section of the Dodd-Frank Act that has helped make pricing for payment processing more competitive.

Citibank is offering surcharge-free ATM access to the customers of 16 credit unions and minority-owned banks in six cities.

The investigation into the lack of new bank charter applications has turned into a proxy battle over the Dodd-Frank Act, with Republicans and many industry players pointing a finger at the 2010 law.

Millennium Bank is said to have been the target of an enforcement action related to its work with the pot industry. The episode shows why many banks remain reluctant to serve the fast-growing cannabis industry.

In 1999, the OCC issued a charter to the internet bank AeroBank, but the startup's efforts to raise capital were thwarted when dot-com-boom money went chasing shinier options. Nonetheless, the bank’s experiences resonate with fintech banks trying to obtain a national charter today.

Jack Kuntz, president and chief executive at American Savings Bank in Portsmouth, Ohio, recently put his personal cell phone number on a billboard off Interstate 71 in Cincinnati as part of an advertising campaign for his $260 million-asset institution.

The $31 billion-asset company said in a press release that Marty Grunst will also join its executive leadership team on Aug. 1.

Social media may be the soup de jour of bank marketing, but its value as a business acquisition tool may be greatly exaggerated unless banks fine-tune their strategies.

OceanFirst Financial in Toms River, N.J., has agreed to buy Ocean Shore Holding in Ocean City, N.J.

Horizon Bancorp in Michigan City, Ind., has agreed to buy CNB Bancorp in Attica, Ind.

The $25 billion-asset company said in a press release Tuesday that BankUnited Small Business Finance is now making loans in Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin.

A couple of years ago, the activist investor Joseph Stilwell said Anchor Bancorp in Lacey, Wash., deserved more time to try to right itself. Apparently he thinks that time is up.

Banks with a special focus, such as social equality or environmental sustainability, have to overcome additional hurdles while looking for an acquisition.

The leading Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee said Tuesday he was "optimistic" about lawmakers' making changes to improve the Dodd-Frank Act next year, while lauding JPMorgan Chase's decision to raise its minimum wage from $10.15 an hour to $12.

BancAlliance, a consortium of more than 200 community banks, is partnering with the digital wealth management firm Personal Capital.