Slideshow

'Pick the battles that are worth fighting': Comments of the week

December 20, 2018 10:00 PM

Readers respond to one fintech startup's tough talk, debate failed plans to change the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's name, weigh reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act and more.

Kathy Kraninger, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) nominee for U.S. President Donald Trump, listens during a Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, July 19, 2018. Kraninger, a little-known official who has worked for the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) since March 2017, is poised to succeed her boss Mick Mulvaney as director of the CFPB. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

On an argument that Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger's decision to scrap her predecessor's plans to change the agency's name is a smart move:

"Common sense, that rarest of commodities in Washington, puts in an appearance here. Pick the battles that are worth fighting. Bravo."

Related: Kraninger’s move to ditch CFPB name change is a savvy one

The Robinhood application is displayed in the App Store on an iPhone.

On the banking industry's reaction to startup Robinhood Financial's unveiling of a brokerage account that was marketed more like a bank account:

"Every brokerage firm in the country has been offering a type of cash management account for over 30 years! Fidelity advertises that their cash management account offers "all the features you need from a traditional checking account". BofA's Merri Lynch (who invented the Cash Management Account in the 80's They all combine full service bank-like checking accounts with investment accounts. RH's error was in explaining how the SIPIC insurance works."

Related: Bankers cry foul over Robinhood’s checking and savings accounts

rubber stamps marked with regulations and rules

Wolfilser - stock.adobe.com

On an argument that policymakers should work to improve the Community Reinvestment Act, not unwind it as some have suggested:

"Dismantling CRA is exactly what our country needs to get Government out of our business. Why do we need regulations that don't offer solutions to consumers? Why do we need academic solutions versus actual practical solutions. We are not a Nation of academics, we are a Nation of people with economic needs that result in better personal economic outcomes. Scrap CRA...nothing would change except a lot less things for Regulators to analyze and bankers to fret over. Who can justify keeping it!"

Related: Scrapping CRA is no solution

old brick wall of the fortress, destroyed or damaged during the fighting in the war

rsooll - stock.adobe.com

On fintech startup Good Money bashing banks in ads before it has even launched:

"The simple fact is that many Fintechs don't know what they don't know. Slamming headfirst into a wall is one way to learn. Hopefully they don't take their investors and customers along for that ride."

Related: This fintech is taking anti-bank marketing to extremes. It may pay for it

A businessman holds a red arrow to down and the inscription profit. Unsuccessful business and poverty. Profit decline. Loss of investment. Low wages. Economic crisis. The fall of the financial market

Андрей Яланский - stock.adobe.com

Another reader responds to Good Money's promise to donate half of its profits to charity, a claim that is followed in its marketing by the phrase "suck it, banks":

"Donating half of their profits to charity? Half of nothing is still nothing... still waiting for one of these guys to make a profit..."

Related: This fintech is taking anti-bank marketing to extremes. It may pay for it

Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve nominee for U.S. President Donald Trump, waits to begin a Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017. Powell signaled broad support for how the Fed operates, regulates and guides the economy, offering a full-throated defense of the government institution he's about to lead. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

On a look at whether a Fed decision to raise the capital buffer could actually increase financial risk:

"In the Great Recession, the large banks were able to raise capital to a certain extent, however, many community banks and some of the large banks had to rely on the government to provide them with funds for survival. If a capital cushion were raised in good times (similar to an insurance reserve), and require of all banks, the capital markets would adjust and accept."

Related: Would raising capital requirements for a rainy day hasten one?