Fortune's Most Powerful Women International Summit 2015: Q&A with Citi's Mahnaz Safa

1. What in your view were the most important takeaways from the Citi breakfast on Citi's latest GPS Report 'Women as Global Growth Generators'?

Citi's breakfast and panel talk on the GPS Report 'Women as Global Growth Generators' highlighted Citi's thought leadership in the area of gender economics and allowed us to engage with clients and colleagues on this topic. The report demonstrated the importance of women as employees and consumers to the global economy, while the senior female speakers at the breakfast prompted a lively discussion on how to apply these lessons to our own careers. The breakfast also proved the value of bringing together 'thought leaders' from diverse backgrounds and geographies, including Tina Fordham (co-author of the report with Heidi Crebo-Redeker, former Chief Economist of the US Department of State) and our panellists from PIMCO, Chatham House, and Fortune.

2. This year's theme Fortune's Most Powerful Women Conference is Leading with Purpose. What is your advice for young women entering the workforce and how they can best "lead with purpose"?

One thing that I have learned from my experiences in professional life is that young talent is crucial to innovation. Young people entering the workforce should be aware that management is looking for ideas from fresh and emerging talent. Therefore, I think that leading with purpose can start at an early stage of one's career, by taking initiative and sharing one's vision for best practice.

Young people can also put themselves in a position to lead by developing skills that are scarce within industries that are growing. For instance, there is already strong demand for graduates from STEM backgrounds in general, but as the technology sector grows, this demand will only increase. I believe there is a real opportunity here for women.

3. You participated in Fortune MPW's first FinTech panel. Citi is doing impressive work in FinTech, such as the Citi Mobile Challenge, Innovation Labs, FinTech Meetups, and its position as the first bank to develop an app for the Apple Watch. Tell us more.

Last year, I suggested FinTech to the Fortune MPW moderator as a topic bringing together technology, finance, innovation, and a major industry for Europe. Fortune was very keen to incorporate the topic, and asked that I serve as a panelist in this year's 'FinTech: London Takes On Silicon Valley', which attracted delegates from Google, Cisco, several Silicon Valley start-ups, and financial firms.

FinTech is making the financial sector work better by operating or automating activities that were previously inefficient. It gives clients more choices on how to bank, borrow, invest, and trade. Citi is at the forefront of FinTech in several capacities:

• In March, Citi launched a banking app designed for Apple Watch. Among the first banking apps for a wearable device, the Citi Mobile® Lite app enables Citi U.S. debit and credit card customers to view account balances and recent transactions and to receive real-time notifications of credit card transactions at a glance right on their wrist with Apple Watch or iPhone.
• Citi Mobile Challenge is a groundbreaking global initiative aimed to inspire technology developers to reimagine mobile banking and payments and to stimulate digital progress in the industry. Last week, we announced the launch of this program in Asia-Pacific.
• Apple Pay Available to Citi Cardmembers

4. How is Fortune MPW's theme as Leading with Purpose reflected in the work you do at Citi, and Citi's mission as an enabler of progress?

Citi is committed to enabling progress for our clients, for the financial services industry, and for the global economy. For Citi as a whole, 'Leading with Purpose' means setting and maintaining high ethical standards, building new and long-standing customer relationships, and continuing our track record of innovation in support of our shareholders and clients. In my current role, I put these aims into practice by acting as a trusted adviser for EMEA Banking clients on strategic transactions and providing efficient access to Citi's global platform. I am also taking the lead in mentoring employees within Citi and in helping to recruit talented and innovative young people to our organization.