The Most Powerful Women in Banking

"I would always rather have the most determined, encouraging, find-a-way person on my team than the smartest person in the room," said Liz Dukes Wolverton, Synovus Financial's chief strategy officer.

Last year, Yvette Hollingsworth Clark spearheaded an industrywide initiative to develop a so-called "Compliance Officer Bill of Rights."

Last year, First United Bank and Trust CEO Karen Glenn made her boldest move to date with a deal to acquire the $85 million-asset Bank of Ohio County in Beaver Dam, Ky. With that deal, the first in its 20-year history, First United boosted its assets by nearly 45%, to $275 million.

Angela Birmingham has held a number of high-ranking banking jobs in her career, but until she started helping her oldest daughter with college applications last year she had never given much thought to being a role model for other women.

Though the general counsel and head of compliance at TD Bank is primarily responsible for making sure the bank's business units are playing by the rules, Ellen Patterson says it is also her team's mission to root out inefficiencies that might be slowing down decision-making and causing pain to customers.