More than five years after the financial crisis bloomed in earnest, bank profits are booming. But don't let that fool you, says Ryan Clancy, head of the executive-communications practice at FTI Consulting.

"Banks still have an awful reputation," he writes in a commentary for CNBC. That was proven again this week with Credit Suisse's guilty plea for aiding Americans in dodging taxes.

Bank executives may believe they don't have a problem, but they do, Clancy says. "The toxic reputation of banks is still a huge problem — a time bomb that could soon extract a significant toll on their bottom lines," he warns.

Editor's Note: Secret Wall Street Calendar Uses Strange ‘Crash Alert System,’ Gets 18.79% Annual Returns

Bank profits hit a record last year, and the KBW Index of bank stocks has returned 14.1 percent during the last 12 months.

"But though banks have won a few short-term battles in Washington, they're losing the long-term war for public opinion," Clancy argues. "The consequences are showing up in the broader political and regulatory debate."

Bank leaders need to show they're acting in the public interest, he notes. If they don't, "they may have a rude reimagining forced upon them by policymakers and regulators."

Meanwhile, Philip van Doorn of MarketWatch lists five cheap bank stocks to consider: Valley Financial, Horizon Bancorp, Monarch Financial Holdings, Discover Financial Services and Capital One Financial.

"Americans don't trust global banks, which is understandable. They did so much, for so long, to earn that mistrust. But for investors, there's money to be made elsewhere in the sector," van Doorn writes.

Editor's Note: Secret Wall Street Calendar Uses Strange ‘Crash Alert System,’ Gets 18.79% Annual Returns

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