Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between personal bankers and loan officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a personal banker, becoming a loan officer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a loan officer has an average salary of $45,817, which is higher than the $37,639 average annual salary of a personal banker.
The top three skills for a personal banker include customer relationships, cross-sell and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a loan officer are customer service, origination, and loan origination.
| Personal Banker | Loan Officer | |
| Yearly salary | $37,639 | $45,817 |
| Hourly rate | $18.10 | $22.03 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 36,603 | 63,663 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | 4.5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 43 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
A personal banker is responsible for managing the customers' financial records and assisting them in various banking transactions. Personal bankers' duties also include handling customers' inquiries for financial plans, understanding the banking and financial industry principles, processing applications, verifying account details, and offering bank products based on the customers' needs. A personal banker must have excellent customer service and communication skills, providing the best options for the customers, and helping them achieve their financial goals.
Loan officers are responsible for assisting borrowers on the best type of loans to avail and guiding the clients throughout the application process. A loan officer must be highly knowledgeable about different lending products, payment plans, loan regulations, and essential files for fast loan approval. Loan officers also act as the first point of contact, conducting an initial screening of the customers, process loan contracts and appropriate documentation, update account records, and respond to customer's inquiries. A loan officer also has the right to reject loan applicants who do not meet loan qualifications.
Personal bankers and loan officers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Personal Banker | Loan Officer | |
| Average salary | $37,639 | $45,817 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $48,000 | Between $30,000 And $69,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Northern Trust | Bangor Savings Bank |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a personal banker and a loan officer in terms of educational background:
| Personal Banker | Loan Officer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between personal bankers' and loan officers' demographics:
| Personal Banker | Loan Officer | |
| Average age | 43 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 44.6% Female, 55.4% | Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.4% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 12.2% White, 66.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 6.3% White, 63.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 8% |