Retail banker

Working as a retail banker may mean being located in high street bank branches, or you could be based within an office for one of the many growing online banks

As a retail banker, you'll help individuals manage their money and will give them advice and information on financial services and products.

You will be involved in:

• assisting in the movement of money via payment mechanisms
• authorising loans and overdraft facilities
• setting up saving accounts and bonds.

Although you'll often be dealing with individuals, some banks include business banking in their retail banking division.

In management roles, you'll have responsibility for the day-to-day operations and strategic management of your branch and will be expected to increase the sale of financial products and services, attract new customers and manage a team of staff.

Private banking is a sub-section of retail banking, available to individuals with a high net worth. The minimum investment amount varies between banks but is generally a minimum of £1million, and in many cases between £10 and £25million.

Retail banking is also known as consumer banking and an alternative job title is relationship banker.

Responsibilities

As a retail banker at a junior level you'll typically need to:

• deal with customer queries face-to-face, over the telephone or in writing
• serve customers at the counter
• process payments and withdrawals
• understand customer needs, recommending suitable products and making sales
• process paperwork from sales, including change of customer details and closure of accounts
• learn about new products, services and processes.

Once you've progressed to manager of a retail bank branch, you'll be need to:

• manage, recruit, and coach teams of people
• deal with customer complaints that can't be solved by front-line staff
• implement new products, services and processes devised by head office
• deal with more complicated customer queries and requests, which may include reviewing their financial circumstances
• represent the bank within the wider community and build relevant contacts
• open and close the branch daily and ensure that the premises are fit for business
• meet sales targets and manage budgets
• write reports and keep financial and statistical records.

Salary

• On a graduate management trainee programme you'll earn in the region of £23,000 to £33,000, with the possible addition of a joining bonus and other bonuses and benefits while training.
• After training, salaries are in the region of £26,000 to £44,000, with bonuses for your first branch management role.
• Senior managers earn up to £55,000.

In addition to bonuses, many employers offer a range of benefits including private healthcare, contributory pension, share schemes and life insurance. Salaries vary depending on the size of the bank and location.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

You'll typically work 9am to 5pm across Monday to Friday, but if you work in a branch, you may also do shifts on a Saturday depending on its opening hours. If you're in a management team, including as a graduate trainee, you may be expected to work extra hours and be flexible to ensure that service levels are maintained.

Within phone or internet banking, you may be required to work shift patterns to provide the 24-hour banking that customers expect.

Part-time, flexible working and career break opportunities are possible.

What to expect

• Retail bankers often work in a branch - meeting customers face-to-face as well as directing operations from the back offices away from the public. However, banking services are increasingly offered over the phone and online. You may therefore instead work in an open-plan office or in rows of staff at a call centre. Whatever the case, bankers spend a lot of time on the phone or in meetings.
• Most large towns and cities have several bank branches but those in smaller towns and villages have been closing in recent times due to lack of demand. Phone and internet banking service centres are situated throughout the country. This means that there are opportunities all over the UK, though they are typically concentrated in major towns and cities.
• Women are still underrepresented in senior management positions. There are, however, a range of initiatives, such as Women in Banking & Finance, that aim to encourage the potential of women in this career area.
• If you work in a branch, you're likely to be provided with a uniform. Other roles tend to require smart business dress.
• You may cover a few branches, meaning you'll need to travel between them. You'll also have to attend regular area and regional meetings and may be required to attend local business and charitable functions. The opportunity for international travel is rare in retail banking, but some multinational banks will offer the chance to move overseas.

Qualifications

Graduate management training programmes are widely available in retail banking. They're open to all graduates, meaning you don't need to have a finance-related degree to be considered.

Retail banks usually require you to have a 2:2 or above, while some require at least a 2:1. Check job adverts to see what individual employers want.

Although specific subjects are not required, degrees that can be helpful in the career include:

• accounting and finance
• banking and finance
• business management/business studies
• economics
• law
• marketing
• mathematics.

If you don't have a degree, you may be able to join a bank in an entry-level customer service role and work up to management level through in-house management courses, some of which are fast-track programmes.

It's also possible to take an apprenticeship, combining paid work with part-time study. Apprenticeships in financial services and banking are available at a range of levels, including the Level 6 financial services professional apprenticeship. For more information, see Top UK banking apprenticeships.

Although a pre-entry postgraduate qualification is not usually required, there are a range of banking-related Masters courses available. Search postgraduate courses in banking and finance.

Skills

You will need to have:

• customer service skills
• verbal and written communication skills
• interpersonal skills
• flexibility and the ability to adapt to changes in the short and long term
• analytical skills
• commercial awareness and business acumen
• leadership skills and the ability to motivate a team
• management and coaching skills
• attention to detail
• general IT, administration and numerical skills.

Work experience

Pre-entry work experience in a financial environment is desirable. This may include:

• vacation work
• a year in industry as part of your degree
• internships, work experience placements or part-time jobs.

Many of the large banks provide internships over the summer for penultimate year students. If you do well during an internship, you may be considered for the organisation's graduate training scheme.

Any experience of customer service work, as well as sales and marketing experience, will also help strengthen your application. Communication and customer service skills and being able to meet financial targets are useful skills to develop through work experience.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

Key employers are the main banks and building societies with branches on the high street, such as:

• Barclays
• The Co-operative Bank
• Halifax
• HSBC
• Lloyds Bank
• Nationwide Building Society
• NatWest
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Santander.

In recent years, some banks have closed, downsized, merged with others or outsourced their services, but branch management roles and graduate training schemes are still available.

There are also increasing opportunities to work for online banks and supermarkets offering banking services. These include M&S Bank, Tesco Bank and Sainsbury's Bank, although some don't offer traditional current accounts.

Some banking services are run without branches and instead offer a combination of telephone and online banking, such as First Direct, Starling Bank and Chase.

Look for job vacancies at:

• CityJobs - Banking
• eFinancialCareers

Most banks have a careers section on their websites, which includes information about careers in retail banking, graduate trainee schemes and current job openings.

Professional development

As a new employee you'll usually go through an induction process to train you in the products and services that the bank offers. This training will also cover customer and risk management.

Regular training is carried out to keep staff members up to date with any changes to products.

If you're on a graduate management scheme, you'll follow a structured training programme. This typically involves spending some time in the branch, so you understand the role of the staff you're managing. It involves learning about related services such as credit cards, loans and small business banking. You'll also spend time in regional offices.

The programme will usually include taking some professional banking qualifications. You can also complete one of these if you aren't on a graduate scheme and want to progress to management level. Relevant qualifications include:

• Certificate in Retail and Digital Banking (CertRDB)
• Certified Fintech Practitioner (CFP)

For more information on the range of available qualifications, see LIBF Banking Qualifications.

The Chartered Banker Institute also offers a range of banking qualifications. You can also gain chartered banker status with them through a combination of professional qualifications and experience. This helps to show that you’re working at a certain professional level and may help career prospects. Find out more about the routes to chartered banker.

It's important to keep up to date with any changes in the banking and finance industry. A range of events, conferences and training workshops are run throughout the year by UK Finance.

Career prospects

If you're on a graduate scheme, you'll usually go into a management role upon successful completion of the scheme.

If you've entered via a different route, with experience and professional qualifications, your career could take the path of:

• team leader
• assistant manager of a department or branch
• branch manager
• regional manager.

Progression to the position of senior branch manager of a large branch or group of small branches is usually an option, followed by regional management where you'll support a number of regional branch managers. It's also possible to move out of branch management and into a head office role.

Some bank managers choose to specialise in areas such as:

• finance and compliance
• fraud prevention and detection
• legal
• recruitment and training.

You may move banks in order to progress or you might move into other financial roles such as insurance. There may also be opportunities to work for the bank's overseas division.

Other retail areas, such as supermarket management or general management of a call centre or large store, are also open to retail bank managers.