Margaret Keane Head of Synchrony Financial

Margaret Keane
Margaret Keane

One of only two women running independently traded US banks valued at over $10 billion, Margaret Keane, 55, knows what it feels like to be unique.

She explained why she follows sports news, even though sports are not a real interest of hers:

“A lot of times I’m the only woman in the room,” said Keane, who leads Synchrony Financial. “If the Yankees won last night, you should know because it’s going to come up. You need to be able to banter with your male colleagues — you can fight that or you can get in the middle.”

Keane has been climbing the corporate ladder for thirty years, learning to build relationships and the ins and outs of finance. Starting in the call center at Citicorp, she managed to make it to the rarefied atmosphere of top level management where women are conspicuously absent. Now she is faced with a new and exciting challenge. Her company, Synchrony, until recently, was a part of General Electric. As of last July, however it has spun off as its own financial lending institution, becoming the largest bank in the US that is run by a woman.

The other woman in this special club is Beth Mooney of KeyCorp. Even though women hold about half the job in financial services, when you examine the upper echelons of executive positions women are only represented 12.4 percent of the time.

“There’s an enormous responsibility that comes with being a diverse leader,” Keane said in an interview at the firm’s Stamford, Conn., headquarters. “My job is to figure out how to get more women in leadership across our industry.”