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As someone who has worked for a bank for years, what is a "banker"? Is it the legal team? the risk team? middle management? software developers? QA team? risk t

As someone who has worked for a bank for years, what is a "banker"? Is it the legal team? the risk team? middle management? software developers? QA team? risk team? The execs? the cleaning staff? And why are tellers not bankers? They perform one of the main public facing banking tasks/services. Also how are tellers supposed to work from home? This is a rather unfair situation, but it's just the nature of the job, not some attack on the lower class. I just find this whole article weird.

deleted 7y ago
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thaumasiotes 7y ago
> And why are tellers not bankers? They perform one of the main public facing banking tasks/services. This question/claim only makes any sense if you're willing to consider that the cleaning staff might deserve to be called "bankers" too. Tellers don't provide any banking services. They can't agree to hold your money or loan you money. They don't provide any advice. They're an implementation detail of the banking agreement you set up with an actual banker, a piece of plumbing that happens to be how you move money into or out of your account. Hence the popularity of automatic teller machines.
- executesorder66 7y ago
  I don't know what the definition of a banker is in the first place other than an employee of the bank. That is where my confusion lies. What is the definition of a banker? And what is their job title?
  - J_cst 7y ago
    In Italy we have two different words: 'banchiere' the one who owns the bank, 'bancario' the one who works at the bank.
  - thaumasiotes 7y ago
    There are a large number of job titles. But I would say someone qualifies as a "banker" if they are responsible for a flow of money, or if their work consists of helping other people implement flows of money. I would be comfortable calling e.g. a corporate treasurer a "banker" in this sense, though I wouldn't expect corporate treasurers to be included in the category "bankers" in the context of this piece. For this piece, something like the intersection of (1) the definition I provide with (2) the class of people employed by "banks". A teller occupies a position of responsibility in that they can cause a lot of mischief by misbehaving. But I don't think the responsibility to refrain from stealing from the company is the relevant kind of responsibility. A teller at work isn't supposed to be making any decisions of any kind.
    - mandelbrotwurst 7y ago
      A teller is responsible for flows of money from the bank to its customers and vice versa, no?
      - thaumasiotes 7y ago
        No. The teller isn't responsible for those flows by transporting the money any more than the security guard is responsible for them by letting the customer go through the door.
        mandelbrotwurst 7y ago
        You're right, the security guard is also a banker by your definition.
        thaumasiotes 7y ago
        I suggest you show my definition to a few people, ask them whether it includes security guards, and see what they say. On the negligible chance that you made this comment in earnest, the results may surprise you.
eesmith 7y ago
FWIW, "banker" doesn't seem to be a direct BLS job description. However, it seems that at least some bankers will describe themselves as a "banker" in the US Census, as there is a mapping from the census job title "banker" to the Occupational Classification System (OCS) term 'B007 FINANCIAL MANAGERS'. See https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comba-be.htm https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comba-be.htm which links the census term to https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comB007.htm https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comB007.htm . > B007 FINANCIAL MANAGERS Management and management related occupations in the financial field of banking, trust companies, credit agencies, investment agencies etc. Workers in this occupation are concerned with the management of financial affairs. Include the following occupations: > Bank Cashier, Branch Manager, Comptroller, Credit Union Manager, Controller, Treasurer, Financial Director, Investment Manager, Accounting Department Manager, Accounts Supervisor, Auditing Department Manager "Bank teller" has its own OCS entry, "D383 BANK TELLERS", at https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comd383.htm https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comd383.htm : > Exclude Cashiers (C276). > Receive and pay out money and keep records of money and negotiable instruments involved in various bank transactions Lawyers, software developers, and cleaning staff have their own OCS classifications and likely rarely call themselves a "banker" in the census. The financial industry uses the term "banker" along the lines described at https://financialcareeroptions.com/financial-careers/financial-career-options/what-is-a-banker/ https://financialcareeroptions.com/financial-careers/financi... : > A banker is an employee of a bank or financial institution who services the financial needs of clients. These clients can be individuals or institutions, both with different needs. A banker tries to maximize the profit of a bank while maintaining appropriate risk levels. > Essentially, bankers raise capital to make loans and investments. They charge interest and fees for the services and seek profit on the investments A teller, for example, does not do those tasks.

deleted 7y ago

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thaumasiotes 7y ago

> And why are tellers not bankers? They perform one of the main public facing banking tasks/services. This question/claim only makes any sense if you're willing to consider that the cleaning staff might deserve to be called "bankers" too. Tellers don't provide any banking services. They can't agree to hold your money or loan you money. They don't provide any advice. They're an implementation detail of the banking agreement you set up with an actual banker, a piece of plumbing that happens to be how you move money into or out of your account. Hence the popularity of automatic teller machines.

executesorder66 7y ago
I don't know what the definition of a banker is in the first place other than an employee of the bank. That is where my confusion lies. What is the definition of a banker? And what is their job title?
- J_cst 7y ago
  In Italy we have two different words: 'banchiere' the one who owns the bank, 'bancario' the one who works at the bank.
- thaumasiotes 7y ago
  There are a large number of job titles. But I would say someone qualifies as a "banker" if they are responsible for a flow of money, or if their work consists of helping other people implement flows of money. I would be comfortable calling e.g. a corporate treasurer a "banker" in this sense, though I wouldn't expect corporate treasurers to be included in the category "bankers" in the context of this piece. For this piece, something like the intersection of (1) the definition I provide with (2) the class of people employed by "banks". A teller occupies a position of responsibility in that they can cause a lot of mischief by misbehaving. But I don't think the responsibility to refrain from stealing from the company is the relevant kind of responsibility. A teller at work isn't supposed to be making any decisions of any kind.
  - mandelbrotwurst 7y ago
    A teller is responsible for flows of money from the bank to its customers and vice versa, no?
    - thaumasiotes 7y ago
      No. The teller isn't responsible for those flows by transporting the money any more than the security guard is responsible for them by letting the customer go through the door.
      - mandelbrotwurst 7y ago
        You're right, the security guard is also a banker by your definition.
        thaumasiotes 7y ago
        I suggest you show my definition to a few people, ask them whether it includes security guards, and see what they say. On the negligible chance that you made this comment in earnest, the results may surprise you.

eesmith 7y ago

FWIW, "banker" doesn't seem to be a direct BLS job description. However, it seems that at least some bankers will describe themselves as a "banker" in the US Census, as there is a mapping from the census job title "banker" to the Occupational Classification System (OCS) term 'B007 FINANCIAL MANAGERS'. See https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comba-be.htm https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comba-be.htm which links the census term to https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comB007.htm https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comB007.htm . > B007 FINANCIAL MANAGERS Management and management related occupations in the financial field of banking, trust companies, credit agencies, investment agencies etc. Workers in this occupation are concerned with the management of financial affairs. Include the following occupations: > Bank Cashier, Branch Manager, Comptroller, Credit Union Manager, Controller, Treasurer, Financial Director, Investment Manager, Accounting Department Manager, Accounts Supervisor, Auditing Department Manager "Bank teller" has its own OCS entry, "D383 BANK TELLERS", at https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comd383.htm https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comd383.htm : > Exclude Cashiers (C276). > Receive and pay out money and keep records of money and negotiable instruments involved in various bank transactions Lawyers, software developers, and cleaning staff have their own OCS classifications and likely rarely call themselves a "banker" in the census. The financial industry uses the term "banker" along the lines described at https://financialcareeroptions.com/financial-careers/financial-career-options/what-is-a-banker/ https://financialcareeroptions.com/financial-careers/financi... : > A banker is an employee of a bank or financial institution who services the financial needs of clients. These clients can be individuals or institutions, both with different needs. A banker tries to maximize the profit of a bank while maintaining appropriate risk levels. > Essentially, bankers raise capital to make loans and investments. They charge interest and fees for the services and seek profit on the investments A teller, for example, does not do those tasks.