The Latest from Women in Banking

Pamela Joseph is the highest-ranking woman at U.S. Bancorp and leads business lines that consistently generate about a quarter of the company's revenue and more than a third of its fee income each year.

In her role overseeing the massive consumer lending operations at Wells Fargo, Avid Modjtabai is at the forefront of the flux rippling through the industry.

"I tell my team today-you always need to be 'on'," says Citigroup's Cece Stewart, and it is, judging by the metrics Stewart has amassed since joining Citi in January 2011. She has presided over growth in average deposits, average loans, investment sales and mortgage originations.

Huntington added more than a branch a week last year. The architect of the expansion, Mary Navarro, helped increase customer households last year by 12 percent, more than three times the industry average and more than Huntington grew in the three previous years combined.

From the TNS Choice Award for direct banking to Money Magazine ranking it as the best online bank for a second straight year, the accolades for Ally Bank continue to pile up. Barbara Yastine rightfully claims some credit.

Sandie O'Connor role managing JPMorgan Chase's relationships with regulators has taken on new significance, given the company's involvement in dustups on assorted regulatory fronts, but the drama hasn't prevented O'Connor from addressing more workaday concerns.

In her role overseeing marketing, communications, public policy and corporate social responsibility for Bank of America, Anne Finucane leads a massive effort to redefine the company's tarnished image.

Patricia Callahan works on many fronts to shape how Wells Fargo is viewed both by the public and by its own employees. That's a function of her daily duties, but it took on heightened importance for her last year as Wells rolled out new ads focused squarely on reputation.

Next to industry giants, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank is about as tiny as it sounds. Dorothy Savarese, its president and CEO, is likewise petite. But such surface details belie the influence she is bringing to bear not only in her community, but across her home state of Massachusetts and in the nation's capital.

Royal Bank of Canada initiated some major strategic moves in the past year, and Janice Fukakusa has been instrumental in bringing them to fruition.