Alan Kline

As head of commercial banking at PNC Financial Services Group, Stephanie Novosel knows full well that competition for loans is intense and that to win business banks need to add value that goes beyond offering competitive loan terms.

Anne Clarke Wolff, the head of global corporate banking and global leasing for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, wants to open banking’s doors to more Hispanic and African-American college students.

In her role as head of virtual channels at Citizens Financial Group, Beth Johnson is relentlessly focused on making banking simpler for consumers.

The retirement and investment group Grace runs for Aon is the global firm's second-largest business unit, wit more than $150 billion of assets under management.

Of the world's 10 largest financial services firms by revenue, only JPMorgan Chase has a woman as its chief information officer.

Innovation in banking typically means developing or investing in some cutting-edge technology that will appeal to younger, tech-savvy customers. But to Luanne Cundiff, it can also mean finding new ways to meet the needs of senior citizens who aren't all that interested in digital banking.

McNiff, American Banker's No. 1 Woman to Watch for 2019, was promoted to the CEO role in April following the retirement of Barbara Desoer.

In the last two fiscal years, the treasury and payments solutions unit that Haward-Laird runs has had the highest return on equity of all BMO Financial's business lines.

In an increasingly competitive financial services marketplace, tiny Citizens is thriving, thanks largely to tech innovations Castilla has pioneered and the loyalty built through Castilla's relentless promotion of the bank's customers and the broader Edmond community.

"I had a vision of upping our client servicing game to give Citizens' commercial clients a best-in-class experience," Wyper said, "no matter how large or small their relationship with us."

City National Bank in Los Angeles has been growing rapidly since Royal Bank of Canada acquired it in late 2015, and now it's up to Kelly Coffey to keep the momentum going.

As a longtime commercial real estate lender and one of highest-ranking women at Key, Mago has made it her mission to improve female and minority representation at both the bank and in her industry.

Smith's biggest responsibility these days is overseeing the replacement of Zions' core loan and deposit systems — a multi-year effort costing hundreds of millions of dollars — but she's taken great care to ensure that the conversion project is not standing in the way of other tech priorities.

The banking industry has some work to do to improve its overall reputation, but the good news is that most customers have positive feelings about their own banks. Here are 10 banks that made big strides.

Once a poster child for corporate wrongdoing, Citi has bolstered its reputation by taking bold stands on polarizing social issues, such as climate change and gun control, and declaring its commitment to move more women and minorities into managerial roles. Here's how it aims to do even better.

"Truist" was roundly mocked when it was unveiled as the name of the merging BB&T and SunTrust, but it’s hardly the first bank moniker to elicit a "huh?" from critics.

Sandler and his wife, Marion, built a small California thrift into a powerhouse before selling it to Wachovia prior to the housing collapse, but were heavily criticized for engaging in some of the same practices that caused the financial crisis.

A rapidly changing workforce and the proliferation of public and shareholder activists have fundamentally reshaped the job of running a bank.

The strong growth in commercial lending made up for more modest gains in credit card and auto lending, its two largest business lines.

Overall loan growth at the Tulsa, Okla., company was muted, however, as an increase in early paydowns lowered commercial real estate loan balances.