A bank cashier is a person who handles money and customer transactions for a bank. The bank cashier can also be referred to as a teller. The job description for a cashier typically includes collecting money, disbursing money, and handling customer concerns and issues. Depending on the bank where the cashier is employed, the cashier’s actual duties may vary.
The primary role of a bank cashier, in most cases, involves handling money. The teller is responsible for helping banking customers, who utilize the bank as a means of controlling their money. These customers may have savings accounts, checking accounts, or business accounts depending on their needs. Many banks have both the in-person cashier stands and drive-through windows to meet the needs of their banking customers.
While dealing with money may seem like an easy task, cashier careers are a bit more complex than just counting currency. The cashier will often be trained to account for deposits, establish new accounts, and work with other, various forms of currency. These may include cashier’s checks, money orders, and travelers checks.
The bank cashier will also be responsible for the drawer from which their monetary transactions are made. Some banks require cashiers to count the drawer before the start of a work shift and again at the end. The total amount of money in the drawer should be the same at both times, though the currency may change from cash to checks or money orders for a portion of the total amount.
In addition to handling money, the cashier job description could include duties other than personal customer service. For instance, the automatic teller machine (ATM) is generally maintained by the bank cashier. This frequent maintenance may include collecting deposits made to the machine and refilling the machine with money.
Cashier skills relevant to today’s financial market often include understanding and learning about individual retirement accounts (IRAs), certificates of deposit, and debit cards. The needs of the bank may also require learning about money market accounts and loan applications, if the cashier job description includes working with these types of accounts.
Working with money may be the primary role of the teller, but the customer will often be handling that money as well. The bank cashier is generally the first person the banking customer will work with to meet their financial needs. For this reason, the customer service aspect of the bank teller job can be considered one of the most important for having a successful career as a cashier.