What does a teller do?

Tellers are bank employees who handle face-to-face or in-person transactions of clients. They are the bank's front liners, and they interact with clients on a daily basis. They process requests related to the clients' bank accounts, including, but not limited to, opening and closing accounts, withdrawing and depositing cash and checks, processing loan requests, accepting payments, validating transactions, and answering any other questions that a client may have. They should also be familiar with the bank's products and services. Tellers should have good customer service skills, attention to detail, and basic accounting skills.
Teller responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real teller resumes:
- Process commercial transaction including deposits, withdrawals and loan payments selling monetary instruments.
- Compile with the bank secrecy act.
- Process treasury, tax and loan payments.
- Receive coin and currency from arm trucks.
- Fill in for coin room teller when on vacation.
- Monitor all monetary instruments purchase and complete all BSA logs.
- Monitor and track securities transactions, fund transfers, margin accounts and option trading.
- Answer customers questions and explain available services as deposit accounts, bonds and securities.
- Oversee and adhere to requirements pertaining to branch security, fraud prevention and BSA.
- Provide proven experience in product sales; traveler's checks, saving bonds, money orders, and cashier's checks.
- Administer teller/ ATM reconciliation transactions.
- Maintain balanced cash drawer for accountability.
- Supervise override authority for large deposits or withdrawals for other tellers.
- Help customers with their banking needs such as deposits, withdrawals, bond ordering, traveler's checks and loan payments.
- Interact with customers and used moderately complex math skills to accurately process transactions.
Teller skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Tellers are proficient in Cash Handling, Customer Service, and Financial Transactions. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Detail oriented, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Tellers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Cash Handling, 13%
Demonstrated exceptional cash handling/balancing ability.
- Customer Service, 13%
Provided top-notch customer service in Spanish and English while handling financial transactions accurately and giving clients a professional and friendly experience.
- Financial Transactions, 8%
Performed a wide variety of financial transactions in a timely and efficient manner individually and through team collaboration.
- Math, 6%
Trained to be a Teller by taking a test of money skills and math.
- Bank Products, 6%
Generated new business and expanding relationships with current customers by cross-selling bank products and services that would benefit each individual.
- ATM, 3%
Compared ATM transactions to accounting records and documented variances as necessary.
"cash handling," "customer service," and "financial transactions" are among the most common skills that tellers use at work. You can find even more teller responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. One of the key soft skills for a teller to have is customer-service skills. You can see how this relates to what tellers do because "tellers spend their day interacting with bank customers." Additionally, a teller resume shows how tellers use customer-service skills: "conducted thorough reviews of customer profiles and updated key information as necessary maintaining highly accurate records utilized by branch management. "
Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform teller duties is detail oriented. Tellers responsibilities require that "tellers must be sure not to make errors when dealing with customers’ money." Tellers also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "identified cross-sell opportunities and make referrals to platform staff provide customer service detail-oriented and organized"
Math skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of tellers is math skills. This skill is critical to many everyday teller duties, as "because they count and handle large amounts of money, tellers must be good at arithmetic." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "balance money and money vaults accurately count money and use mathematics skills sale financial products"
The three companies that hire the most tellers are:
- Wells Fargo503 tellers jobs
- TD Bank452 tellers jobs
- PNC217 tellers jobs
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Teller vs. Banking associate
A banking associate's role is to build positive relationships with clients by performing support tasks. Their responsibilities revolve around greeting clients, processing requests and documentation, gathering and verifying requirements, responding to inquiries and concerns, and offering other services and products to clients. They may also produce progress reports, financial statements, coordinate with team members, and liaise with external agencies. Furthermore, as a banking associate, it is essential to handle issues and complaints, all while adhering to the bank's policies and regulations.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between tellers and banking associate. For instance, teller responsibilities require skills such as "cross-sell," "savings withdrawals," "credit card payments," and "bank operations." Whereas a banking associate is skilled in "excellent interpersonal," "powerpoint," "financial solutions," and "treasury." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Banking associates tend to make the most money working in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $74,654. In contrast, tellers make the biggest average salary, $32,762, in the finance industry.The education levels that banking associates earn slightly differ from tellers. In particular, banking associates are 5.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a teller. Additionally, they're 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Teller vs. Personal banking representative
Personal banking representatives typically earn $39K per year. This position requires a high school diploma or GED at a minimum, but employers prefer a bachelor's degree in finance, business, or a related field. They may also ask for experience in customer service, cash-handling, or banking. Personal banking representatives are required to provide bank client support, assist with account management, process checks, and find products and services that will be the best fit for their clients.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that teller responsibilities requires skills like "math," "basic math," "savings withdrawals," and "customer relationships." But a personal banking representative might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "profiling," "marketing campaigns," "strong analytical," and "excellent organizational."
In general, personal banking representatives achieve similar levels of education than tellers. They're 2.8% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Teller vs. Bank representative
A bank representative works to assist clients, aiming to provide optimal banking services and build positive client relationships. Their duties include greeting and identifying the clients' needs, answering inquiries, giving clear instructions, and discussing banking terms. They also process client requests such as withdrawals, deposits, payments, and even handling applications. Moreover, a bank representative may also conduct market research and analyses, generate leads, and reach out to potential clients through calls and correspondence to offer products and services.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a teller is likely to be skilled in "math," "basic math," "savings withdrawals," and "strong customer service," while a typical bank representative is skilled in "excellent interpersonal," "ach," "origination," and "loan payments."
Bank representatives make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $34,448. On the other hand, tellers are paid the highest salary in the finance industry, with average annual pay of $32,762.When it comes to education, bank representatives tend to earn similar degree levels compared to tellers. In fact, they're 2.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Teller vs. Finance service representative
A financial service representative typically works for a bank or a similar establishment. One of their primary responsibilities is to reach out to clients and offer financial advice, services, or products such as insurance and credit cards. They can also set appointments, meet with clients to discuss benefits, and even gather applications. Furthermore, a financial service representative needs to have extensive knowledge of the products and services and be equipped with communication skills to build a rapport that will be essential in securing trust and sales.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between tellers and finance service representatives, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a teller might have more use for skills like "math," "basic math," "savings withdrawals," and "strong customer service." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of finance service representatives require skills like "patients," "team-oriented environment," "mutual funds," and "fsr. "
Finance service representatives enjoy the best pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $40,163. For comparison, tellers earn the highest salary in the finance industry.In general, finance service representatives hold similar degree levels compared to tellers. Finance service representatives are 2.9% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of teller
Updated January 8, 2025











