Banks and Building Societies Jobs
Banks and building societies provide financial services for businesses and members of the public. They offer facilities for savings, loans, mortgages and insurance, for example.
Many banking activities now take place by phone or online.
Bank Manager
Bank managers work in either branch and retail management or in specialist banking services.
Managers working in branch management must run their branch within targets set by head office. They build relationships with businesses, promote the services of the bank and assess customers’ requests for loans, for example.
Managers are responsible for the overall running of the branch and deal with staff supervision, training and monitoring work practices.
Managers who work in specialist services might be concerned with information technology, credit card services, corporate or investment banking, or financial services. Alternatively, they might work in head offices dealing with, for example, risk management, global services or human resource management.
Bank Officer
Banks divide jobs into grades according to how much experience is needed to carry out duties and how much responsibility is involved.
Typical duties at various grades are: recording details of the bank’s transactions, providing customer service, handling cash, opening and closing customer accounts, explaining and promoting financial services and dealing with the buying and selling of stocks and shares.
Building Society Manager
Building society managers take overall responsibility for running their branch efficiently and profitably. They write reports and prepare statistical records, and they supervise, train and appraise staff.
Other duties include interviewing prospective home owners to see if they are able to have a mortgage (a loan to buy property), and advising them on the effects of their decision. They also liaise with surveyors, solicitors and bankers when arranging property transactions.
Building Society Officer
Building society cashiers/customer advisers deal with customer transactions and record amendments to savings accounts. They also help customers to open new accounts.
They maintain records and deal with routine paperwork relating to new accounts and mortgages (loans to buy property).
Some customer advisers work in contact centres, where all the customer contact is by phone.
Qualified and experienced building society officers handle customers’ queries about financial services or mortgages, and advise on different methods of saving.