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.
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:
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 may have been the introduction of automated teller machines. 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. Further automation and online banking, however, may reverse this increase resulting in a trend toward fewer bank teller positions. [3]
Public figures who were former bank tellers
Many well-known personalities have worked as bank tellers including:
