Bank teller

Last updated
A teller in a branch of Bank Muamalat, Indonesia Bank Muamalat.JPG
A teller in a branch of Bank Muamalat, Indonesia

A bank teller (often abbreviated to simply teller) is an employee of a bank whose responsibilities include the handling of customer cash and negotiable instruments. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier or customer representative. [1] Tellers also deal with routine customer service at a branch.

Contents

Responsibilities and duties of the bank teller

Bank teller at work. (1992) Bank teller - 1992 - BLS.png
Bank teller at work. (1992)

Being front-line staff they are most likely to detect and stop fraudulent transactions in order to prevent losses at a bank (counterfeit currency and cheques, identity theft, confidence tricks, etc.). The position also requires tellers to be friendly and interact with the customers, providing them with information about customers' accounts and bank services. Tellers typically work from a station, usually located on a teller line. Most stations have a teller system, which includes cash drawers, receipt validator/printers, proof work sorters, and paperwork used for completing bank transactions. These transactions include:

Prevalence and history

Tellers at machines at the Bowery Savings Bank, 34th St. and 5th Ave., New York City, in 1941 Bank tellers - 01.png
Tellers at machines at the Bowery Savings Bank, 34th St. and 5th Ave., New York City, in 1941

In the United States, tellers held approximately 608,000 jobs in 2006. Of these, approximately 25% were classified as part-time. Median annual earnings as of May 2006 were $22,140. [2]

The number of tellers in the United States increased from approximately 300,000 in 1970 to approximately 600,000 in 2010. A contributing factor in the period of increase may have been the introduction of automated teller machines due to the impact of induced demand: ATMs allow a branch to operate with fewer tellers, making it more economical for banks to open more branches, necessitating more tellers to staff those additional branches. In the later 2010s and the 2020s, automation and online banking (as anticipated [3] ) reversed this trend, leading to only 364,100 in 2022. [4]

Public figures who were former bank tellers

Many well-known personalities have worked as bank tellers including:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debit card</span> Card used for financial transactions, usually without a credit line

A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either the front or the back. Many new cards now have a chip on them, which allows people to use their card by touch (contactless), or by inserting the card and keying in a PIN as with swiping the magnetic stripe. Debit cards are similar to a credit card, but the money for the purchase must be in the cardholder's bank account at the time of the purchase and is immediately transferred directly from that account to the merchant's account to pay for the purchase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automated teller machine</span> Electronic telecommunications device to perform financial transactions

An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance inquiries or account information inquiries, at any time and without the need for direct interaction with bank staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transaction account</span> Bank holding that clients can access on demand

A transaction account, also called a checking account, chequing account, current account, demand deposit account, or share account at credit unions, is a deposit account or bank account held at a bank or other financial institution. It is available to the account owner "on demand" and is available for frequent and immediate access by the account owner or to others as the account owner may direct. Access may be in a variety of ways, such as cash withdrawals, use of debit cards, cheques and electronic transfer. In economic terms, the funds held in a transaction account are regarded as liquid funds. In accounting terms, they are considered as cash.

Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many instances, bank fraud is a criminal offence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cashier</span> Person who exchanges money for goods at a store

A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the context of accountancy for the person responsible for receiving and disbursing money or within branch banking in the United Kingdom for the job known in the United States as a bank teller.

Cheque fraud, or check fraud, refers to a category of criminal acts that involve making the unlawful use of cheques in order to illegally acquire or borrow funds that do not exist within the account balance or account-holder's legal ownership. Most methods involve taking advantage of the float to draw out these funds. Specific kinds of cheque fraud include cheque kiting, where funds are deposited before the end of the float period to cover the fraud, and paper hanging, where the float offers the opportunity to write fraudulent cheques but the account is never replenished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traveller's cheque</span> Medium of exchange

A traveller's cheque is a medium of exchange that can be used in place of hard currency. They can be denominated in one of a number of major world currencies and are preprinted, fixed-amount cheques designed to allow the person signing it to make an unconditional payment to someone else as a result of having paid the issuer for that privilege.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passbook</span> Type of paper book in banking

A passbook or bankbook is a paper book used to record bank or building society transactions on a deposit account.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheque</span> Method of payment

A cheque or check ; is a document that orders a bank, building society to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The person writing the cheque, known as the drawer, has a transaction banking account where the money is held. The drawer writes various details including the monetary amount, date, and a payee on the cheque, and signs it, ordering their bank, known as the drawee, to pay the amount of money stated to the payee.

A cashier's check is a check guaranteed by a bank, drawn on the bank's own funds and signed by a bank employee. Cashier's checks are treated as guaranteed funds because the bank, rather than the purchaser, is both the drawee and drawer and is responsible for paying the amount. They are commonly required for real estate and brokerage transactions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overdraft</span> Payments from a bank account exceeding the balance

An overdraft occurs when something is withdrawn in excess of what is in a current account. For financial systems, this can be funds in a bank account. In these situations the account is said to be "overdrawn". In the economic system, if there is a prior agreement with the account provider for an overdraft, and the amount overdrawn is within the authorized overdraft limit, then interest is normally charged at the agreed rate. If the negative balance exceeds the agreed terms, then additional fees may be charged and higher interest rates may apply.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Payment card</span> Card issued by a financial institution that can be used to make a payment

Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and make payments by electronic transfer with a payment terminal and access automated teller machines (ATMs). Such cards are known by a variety of names, including bank cards, ATM cards, client cards, key cards or cash cards.

The Expedited Funds Availability Act was enacted in 1987 by the United States Congress for the purpose of standardizing hold periods on deposits made to commercial banks and to regulate institutions' use of deposit holds. It is also referred to as Regulation CC or Reg CC, after the Federal Reserve regulation that implements the act. The law is codified in Title 12, Chapter 41 of the US Code and Title 12, Part 229 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Teller Assist Units (TAU), also known as Automatic Teller Safes (ATS) or Teller Cash Dispensers (TCD), are devices used in retail banking for the disbursement of money at a bank teller wicket or a centralized area. Other areas of application of TAU include the automation of starting and reconciling teller or cashier drawers (tills) in retail, check cashing, payday loan / advance, grocery, and casino operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Branch (banking)</span> Retail location of a bank, credit union, or other financial institution

A branch, banking center or financial center is a retail location where a bank, credit union, or other financial institution offers a wide array of face-to-face and automated services to its customers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automated cash handling</span>

Automated cash handling refers to the process of dispensing, counting, and tracking cash within various business environments using software and hardware devices such as banknote processing. Automated cash handling is used by banks, retail stores, check-cashing outlets, payday loan/advance providers, casinos, and more. This process is facilitated through the use of specially designed hardware and software, with the primary goals of preventing loss, deterring theft, and reducing the need for constant manual oversight of cash operations.

Loan officers evaluate, authorize, or recommend approval of loan applications for people and businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank</span> Financial institution which accepts deposits

A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.

A retail clerk, also known as a sales clerk, shop clerk, retail associate, or shop assistant, sales assistant or customer service assistant, is a service role in a retail business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deposit slip</span>

A deposit slip or a pay-in-slip is a form supplied by a bank for a depositor to fill out, designed to document in categories the items included in the deposit transaction when physically depositing at a bank. The categories include type of item, and if it is a cheque or cash and which bank it is from, such as a local bank or not.

References

  1. "Scotiabank Jobs".
  2. "Tellers". Occupational Outlook Handbook. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2006. Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. Tess Townsend (May 8, 2017). "Eric Schmidt said ATMs led to more jobs for bank tellers. It's not that simple". Recode. Archived from the original on 2017-05-11.
  4. "Tellers : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics". Occupational Outlook Handbook. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Archived from the original on 2024-03-28. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
  5. "10 of the Most Famous Financial Advisors". Investopedia.
  6. "9 Boring Jobs Celebrities Had Before They Were Famous". www.jobs.net.