Bank Teller Career

The banking sector of any country is vital to all areas of development. Since everything boils down to finance, banks play a significant role in the economy and politics of a society. As such, a banking career is an important one. There are several levels and aspects of banking but the primary role of any bank still remains the same, the deposition and lending of funds.

What is a Bank Teller?

Bank tellers account for the largest number of bank employees as a result of the tasks they perform. A bank teller is responsible for ensuring that routine transactions carried out by bank customers are catered to efficiently. Bank tellers are also important in promoting the image of a bank since they are usually the first contact with the bank.

Bank Teller Job Duties

A bank teller career largely consists of the fulfillment of routine financial tasks for customers. In addition to these tasks, bank tellers also influence the way customers perceive a bank. Some of the duties of a bank teller include: accepting deposits, paying out money, cashing checks, paying out loans, changing money, selling orders and other services offered by the bank to customers.

Bank Teller Skills

A bank teller career will greatly benefit from certain skills and traits. Since tellers deal with a large number of customers with diverse temperaments and behaviors, they need to be immensely patient when attending to customers. Strong communication skills and an ability to work under a lot of pressure are also helpful to a career as a bank teller.

Bank Teller Education

Since the tasks performed by tellers are routine, the basic formal educational requirement is a high school diploma. All tellers are trained on the job through a series of lectures that utilize different methods and materials. Most banks have in-house training schools for new employees and a head teller who supervises the other tellers.

Bank Teller Salary

According to a May 2009 survey by the BLS, the median annual salary for bank tellers was placed at $23,980. The top ten percent earned a little more than $32,520 annually and the bottom ten percent earned a little lesser than $18,270. Other categories of bank tellers outside these ranges earned between $21,010 and $28,260 annually.

Bank Teller Job Outlook

The growth rate for bank teller careers has been pegged at 6% spanning between 2008 and 2018. This is a bit low but still presents a good outlook for intending bank tellers. Most of the spots will be created in response to the growth of banking services in addition to the exodus of tellers moving on in their careers to other lucrative occupations.

A career as a bank teller is worth considering because it requires little formal training and it also provides an avenue to learn about banking whilst on the job as a preparation to professional advancement in the banking sector. It is noteworthy that the more the experience and responsibilities handled, the better the remuneration.