2024 Most Powerful Women in Banking

Richard oversees a budget of $1.1 billion and manages a team of 5,000 employees globally at U.S. Bank.

In 2023, Castilla launched Roger, a digital bank for unbanked members of the military. One year later, Roger has opened deposit accounts for about 1,000 service members and their families.

Chayt started at Cincinnati-based Fifth Third as director of wholesale payments in 2016, after almost 19 years at Comerica leading its treasury management and business deposit services.

Each year, in advance of our Most Powerful Women in Banking and Finance awards, American Banker puts together a list of 15 women who are rising stars at their banks. The honorees, all women 40 years old and younger, are nominated by an executive at their institution who believes that she has the potential to ascend to the C-suite.

As a managing director within Citi Investment Management, a division that sits within wealth, White is playing an integral part in reshaping that line of business.

Wech worked her way up over the past 16 years from a trainee through the retail division, becoming a branch manager, the manager of multiple locations, a team leader and now a regional head for business banking.

Shalishali joined the $59.7 billion-asset bank through an early talent program, which exposed her to different aspects of banking. She ended up starting off as a credit analyst before taking on other roles, such as a private wealth advisor and a commercial banker. 

After earning her engineering degree at MIT, Wall Street beckoned Jessica Payne, who was recruited into Citi's analyst class. Three years later, rather than use the MBA she earned at Harvard Business School to go in another direction, she eagerly returned to investment banking.

With 16 years at the company, Niemczyk is an Ally lifer. She is currently a senior director of invest and deposits business operations and analytics at the bank.

Melhaoui leads a team of 11 and is responsible for overseeing the bank's liquidity and interest rate risk for the U.S, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina.