7 ms·

When I was a bank teller I was paid $10/hour. This is a dream. That said - the teller is an endangered position.

ModernMech 8y ago
Is it though? I heard that when ATMs were introduced, and tellers are still around. There's no shortage of banks in my town, each surely stocked with tellers. What's threatening tellers now?
- dwighttk 8y ago
  The few times I've gone into a bank there's been ~5 teller positions manned by 1 teller.
- grimjack00 8y ago
  But how many tellers? And what other duties do they have besides performing customer transactions? I was a teller back in the mid-nineties, and even then, depending on the branch, we almost never had a full teller line. There were maybe two full-timers, and the rest (3-4) were part-time and scheduled to cover peak hours.
  - wcarron 8y ago
    My Chase branch in KTown in Los Angeles literally always has a wait. I have gone at least a dozen times during the week and there have always been at least 4 tellers solely manning the transactions. The line for the tellers is invariably over 10 people long. Other bank employees handle new accounts and whatnot.
    - jcims 8y ago
      Is there enough retail in that area that they might be handling a disproportionate number of deposits?
    - scruple 8y ago
      Just piling on to confirm that this is also the experience in quite literally every banking branch I've ever walked into in the San Gabriel Valley.
  - ModernMech 8y ago
    There might be fewer tellers per bank, that's likely. But it's also true there are more banks than in the 90s, at least thinking about my town.
- jteppinette 8y ago
  In my opinion, people don't have to go to the bank as much anymore. The only reason I would ever go to the bank was to deposit checks, but you can do that on your phone now.
  - abakker 8y ago
    except when the checks are very large or if you need to deposit a lot of them. I've never hit these limits, but it constantly tells me that I can only do up to $10k/day I think.
  - TheHypnotist 8y ago
    You can do that via drive-through or walk-up ATM. The only time I need a teller is when I need a bank check drawn up for me.
  - deadmetheny 8y ago
    Not for personal accounts, but if you own a small business that does a lot of cash transactions, you will inevitably spend a lot of time at the bank. Anecdata: My local branch nearly always has a line 2-3 people deep with 3-4 tellers when I need to nip in.
- rtkwe 8y ago
  My bank Coastal Federal Credit Union (I think they’ve rebranded but I can’t keep their new name in my head) has started using video tellers for most things and then a few people in the back to handle everything else. It’s pretty convenient because it lets them have 7-7/7 hours instead of the shorter usual hours.
- TheHypnotist 8y ago
  This kind of goes in direct contrast of another comment I made, but they seemed to like to have people self serve instead of come in to the bank. I don't know if this was based on expense or survey reviews or some combination of the two or maybe even something else entirely. Same can be said with call centers now. The direction is to have callers stay in the IVR and not go to a rep. The rep's aren't exactly going away any time soon, but that's the dream.
- opportune 8y ago
  What's threatening tellers? The fact that it's entirely possible to do all personal banking without ever speaking to a person? It's mostly old people and the tech illiterate keeping them around. In 30 years I doubt they will exist in regular consumer banking
mixmastamyk 8y ago
I'm surprised bank branches even exist in the numbers they do, what an incredible expense. Don't think I've set foot in one for five years, besides heading to the ATM.
- stronglikedan 8y ago
  The lobbies are usually quite busy in my area.
  - mixmastamyk 8y ago
    Probably due to the archaic state of banking in the US rather than excessive need.
    - Loughla 8y ago
      What? Explain that.
      - mixmastamyk 8y ago
        In more developed (read less politically captured) countries banking tasks are automated, ubiquitous, quick, and free. Take New Zealand for example. Sending 25 cents immediately to a friend to cover the cost of a cookie takes a few taps. Salary and rent is paid automatically directly to bank accounts every week. Bills, utilities, govt all on same system. Here in CA one birthplace of the internet, I have to print a paper check for the landlord like it's the 70s.
        seanmcdirmid 8y ago
        You can send money easily with a few taps in the USA also. I haven’t written a paper check to a landlord in over 15 years (but I had to do the money bags thing for a few years in China). Heck, even if they don’t have online payments setu, you can usually just auto send them the money as a payee (I do this with my daycare). It’s annoying when I do need to use a paper check once or twice a year, I just go to the bank for a temp check (which is the only time I visit a bank branch also).

Is it though? I heard that when ATMs were introduced, and tellers are still around. There's no shortage of banks in my town, each surely stocked with tellers. What's threatening tellers now?

dwighttk 8y ago
The few times I've gone into a bank there's been ~5 teller positions manned by 1 teller.
grimjack00 8y ago
But how many tellers? And what other duties do they have besides performing customer transactions? I was a teller back in the mid-nineties, and even then, depending on the branch, we almost never had a full teller line. There were maybe two full-timers, and the rest (3-4) were part-time and scheduled to cover peak hours.
- wcarron 8y ago
  My Chase branch in KTown in Los Angeles literally always has a wait. I have gone at least a dozen times during the week and there have always been at least 4 tellers solely manning the transactions. The line for the tellers is invariably over 10 people long. Other bank employees handle new accounts and whatnot.
  - jcims 8y ago
    Is there enough retail in that area that they might be handling a disproportionate number of deposits?
  - scruple 8y ago
    Just piling on to confirm that this is also the experience in quite literally every banking branch I've ever walked into in the San Gabriel Valley.
- ModernMech 8y ago
  There might be fewer tellers per bank, that's likely. But it's also true there are more banks than in the 90s, at least thinking about my town.
jteppinette 8y ago
In my opinion, people don't have to go to the bank as much anymore. The only reason I would ever go to the bank was to deposit checks, but you can do that on your phone now.
- abakker 8y ago
  except when the checks are very large or if you need to deposit a lot of them. I've never hit these limits, but it constantly tells me that I can only do up to $10k/day I think.
- TheHypnotist 8y ago
  You can do that via drive-through or walk-up ATM. The only time I need a teller is when I need a bank check drawn up for me.
- deadmetheny 8y ago
  Not for personal accounts, but if you own a small business that does a lot of cash transactions, you will inevitably spend a lot of time at the bank. Anecdata: My local branch nearly always has a line 2-3 people deep with 3-4 tellers when I need to nip in.
rtkwe 8y ago
My bank Coastal Federal Credit Union (I think they’ve rebranded but I can’t keep their new name in my head) has started using video tellers for most things and then a few people in the back to handle everything else. It’s pretty convenient because it lets them have 7-7/7 hours instead of the shorter usual hours.
TheHypnotist 8y ago
This kind of goes in direct contrast of another comment I made, but they seemed to like to have people self serve instead of come in to the bank. I don't know if this was based on expense or survey reviews or some combination of the two or maybe even something else entirely. Same can be said with call centers now. The direction is to have callers stay in the IVR and not go to a rep. The rep's aren't exactly going away any time soon, but that's the dream.
opportune 8y ago
What's threatening tellers? The fact that it's entirely possible to do all personal banking without ever speaking to a person? It's mostly old people and the tech illiterate keeping them around. In 30 years I doubt they will exist in regular consumer banking

mixmastamyk 8y ago

I'm surprised bank branches even exist in the numbers they do, what an incredible expense. Don't think I've set foot in one for five years, besides heading to the ATM.

stronglikedan 8y ago
The lobbies are usually quite busy in my area.
- mixmastamyk 8y ago
  Probably due to the archaic state of banking in the US rather than excessive need.
  - Loughla 8y ago
    What? Explain that.
    - mixmastamyk 8y ago
      In more developed (read less politically captured) countries banking tasks are automated, ubiquitous, quick, and free. Take New Zealand for example. Sending 25 cents immediately to a friend to cover the cost of a cookie takes a few taps. Salary and rent is paid automatically directly to bank accounts every week. Bills, utilities, govt all on same system. Here in CA one birthplace of the internet, I have to print a paper check for the landlord like it's the 70s.
      - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
        You can send money easily with a few taps in the USA also. I haven’t written a paper check to a landlord in over 15 years (but I had to do the money bags thing for a few years in China). Heck, even if they don’t have online payments setu, you can usually just auto send them the money as a payee (I do this with my daycare). It’s annoying when I do need to use a paper check once or twice a year, I just go to the bank for a temp check (which is the only time I visit a bank branch also).