Retail banker

Retail banking (also known as consumer banking) focuses on supporting individuals with everyday banking, savings and borrowing. 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.

Working as a retail banker

As a retail banker you may need to:

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

Once you've progressed to manager of a retail bank branch, you may 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.

Retail banker salary

• Starting salaries are usually in the range of £23,000 to £33,000 on a graduate management trainee programme.
• Experienced retail bankers, with around five years' experience, can earn in the region of £26,000 to £44,000.
• Senior bankers earn salaries of up to £55,000.

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

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

How many hours does a retail banker work?

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.

You may cover a few branches, meaning you'll need to travel between them, and you'll attend regular area and regional meetings and local business or charitable functions.

How do you become a retail banker?

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.

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.

What skills does a retail banker need?

You'll need to have:

• analytical and numeracy skills to assess customer needs and financial information
• attention to detail when handling transactions, documentation and regulatory requirements
• commercial awareness and business acumen to understand banking products and performance
• customer service skills to support a wide range of customers professionally
• interpersonal skills to build rapport and manage sensitive financial discussions with discretion and confidentiality
• leadership and management skills to motivate and coach a team in branch roles
• strong verbal and written communication skills to explain products and handle queries.

Retail banker 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 and, 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. Speculative applications to local branches or contact centres may also be worthwhile.

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

Who employs retail bankers?

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

• 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
• bank and building society website careers pages.

You can also use specialist financial services recruitment agencies and networking, including LinkedIn, to find opportunities and make speculative approaches.

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.

What are the career prospects for professional development for retail bankers?

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, and 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, and 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 professional banking qualifications, such as the Certificate in Retail and Digital Banking (CertRDB) or Certified Fintech Practitioner (CFP).

Training and professional qualifications are available through the Chartered Banker Institute and LIBF, including courses in retail, digital and professional banking.

You can gain chartered banker status through a combination of professional qualifications and experience, helping to show that you're working at a certain professional level and supporting career prospects.

It's important to keep up to date with changes in the banking and finance industry, and organisations such as UK Finance run events, conferences and training workshops throughout the year.

If you're on a graduate scheme, you'll usually go into a management role upon successful completion. 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 and regional manager.

Some bank managers choose to specialise in areas such as finance and compliance, fraud prevention and detection, legal work or recruitment and training. You may move banks in order to progress or move into other financial roles such as insurance, and 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.