Speaker Details
Betty Devita
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Citibank Canada
Betty DeVita is currently the Citi Country Officer (CCO) for Canada, as well as Canada's Global Consumer Group Head. As CCO, Ms. DeVita serves the critical role of protecting and growing the Citi franchise in Canada, within a complex legal, regulatory and business environment. She serves as Chairman of the Board for Citibank Canada; and as Director for CitiCards Canada Inc., Citigroup Global Markets, and Citigroup Finance Canada Inc. She is the Chairman of the Foreign Banks Executive Committee for the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) and also sits on the CBA Executive Council. Ms. DeVita partners with the Business Heads of North America to develop and execute a comprehensive marketplace strategy for Canada, where significant growth opportunities are identified.
Ms. DeVita was the Country Business Manager for the Global Consumer Group in Korea from 2004 to 2007. She was responsible for the overall consumer business after the acquisition of Koram Bank by Citibank. Her scope encompassed 250 branches, 5MM retail bank and 3MM credit card customers, a $3BN Loan SME Business, a 85 Branch Consumer Finance Business, and a franchise with a leadership position in the wealth management business. Her net revenues for the consumer business exceeded $1BN for 2006 and she led more than 7,500 people across the franchise.
From 2002 to 2004, Ms. DeVita was Citigroups Regional Business Executive for North Latin America and Caribbean Consumer Region, responsible for the Credit Card and the Retail businesses in Bahamas, Colombia, Dominican Republic of Panama, Peru and Venezuela. One of her strongest qualities is her ability to adapt to different cultures, diverse organizational models, and her capacity to target growth opportunities across multiple geographies leveraging best practices across businesses.
Ms. DeVita was also the Venezuela Consumer Business Manager from 1999 to 2002. Venezuela Consumer experienced a growth rate of 33% in constant dollars and 12% nominally during her five year management span. In addition, it was awarded a variety of prestigious awards: Best Customer Satisfaction and Best Employee Satisfaction for 2000 in the Emerging Markets, Best Customer Satisfaction and Top Risk Management Award in Latin America in 2001, and in May 2003, recognized at the Global Consumer Leadership Conference for outstanding performance during a crisis.
Ms. DeVita, a 27-year Citibank veteran, has held various positions for the Latin American Consumer Bank, U.S. Bankcards, and the U.S. Retail Consumer Bank, where she began her career in New York as a teller. Upon entering the Management Associate program, she then moved into Sales, Branch Management, and Mortgage Banking; followed by US Bankcards in the Credit/Risk area. She defined the NY Retail Bank business strategy to transform the traditional branch infrastructure/technology to a retail oriented selling environment. Using her experience in the U.S., she moved to the Latin America Regional Headquarters where as Core Banking Product Manager, she focused on the strategic growth of the affluent business throughout the Latin America region and more than doubled the customer base.
She is also focused on the communities in which she works where she co-founded the Venezuela chapter of Vital Voices Bridging the Digital Divide with U.S. Ambassador Donna Hrinak that trained underprivileged women in information technology. Vital Voices, a global non-profit organization is focused on developing future women business leaders. She served as Governor and Board Member of the Korean American Chamber of Commerce and an Executive Director of the Citibank Korea Board. She was the leader for Latin America on Diversity and continued this Diversity champion role in Korea leading the Korea Womens Diversity Council for Citibank and was co-chair for the Professional Womens Committee through Amcham. She serves as the Executive Sponsor for the The Womens Council in Canada .
Ms. DeVita has her BS from St. Johns University and completed post-graduate studies in Information Systems Management. In 2006, she attended the Wharton-KMA CEO Institute designed for CEOs in Korea. She is married and has two children. She is fluent in English and Spanish.
