Tales From The Frontlines

According to the FDIC, almost 82% percent of Americans are fully-banked, while only 4.5% of people are “unbanked” meaning that no-one in their household has access to a checking or savings account through a bank or credit union. The unbanked population is currently the lowest it’s been in the last 10 years, and just last year over 13 million new bank accounts were opened in the US. Banking has become an integral part of many Americans’ lives, but since it’s an industry hinging on people’s trust, we rarely get to see what happens behind the scenes.

There are 2 million Americans currently working in the Commercial Banking Industry. Although most financial services are available through mobile banking, the need for brick and mortar locations has far from vanished. I spoke with a branch manager in hopes of uncovering the truth about what happens behind the vault.

So how did you get into banking? Tell us a little bit about your journey working in financial services?

I’ve been working in banks for 6 years. I started out as a teller and worked my way through the ranks, and currently am working as an Assistant Branch Manager. I never saw myself working at a bank; I thought it was going to be a professional job that I’d do for a while, but I didn’t see myself sticking with it, but bankers kind of have their hands in everything. You’re the face of the company and you actually get to help people which makes the job more enjoyable.

How would you describe your personal relationship with finance?

I’m pretty good with budgeting, but am typically not too involved. I check in with myself once in a while to see how I’m doing, but I also like to live my life. There are some people who are constantly checking their available balance, setting alerts for every transaction, or calling to see when certain charges are showing in their account. I don’t do any of that, but I am aware of the options that are available to me.

What are some of your favorite and least favorite parts of your job?

I like that I’m able to bypass certain restrictions that help people living paycheck to paycheck. Like if I know a customer, and they receive a check, I can give them immediate access to their funds when they would typically have to wait a day or two for them to see it in their account. I also like that I’m able to establish relationships with people I would’ve never gotten to meet otherwise. Talking about money is hard for a lot of people, so once we talk about that, it opens the door for them to open about other things that are going on in their lives.

My least favorite thing is all of the red tape that stops me from being able to help people. I know why it’s there, like just recently had a customer give us a check that ended up being fake, we gave him immediate access to the funds and it ended up costing us $3,000. A lot of times we have the ability to trust our judgment, but it never feels good being lied to.

What is something that happens behind the scenes that might surprise people?

I would say that things are not anonymous as you’d expect them to be. It’s easy to think “there’s too many people in the world for banks to keep up with everyone” but there’s a lot of communication between branches. For example, when there is suspicious activity at one location, security footage will be sent to all of the other branches in the area. It’s our job to protect people’s assets, so there’s a lot going on behind the scenes to protect us from fraud. If you’re doing something sketchy, it’s only a matter of time until it catches up to you.

Do you think people are generally knowledgeable about the financial decisions they make?

I think generally people don’t really know what they want or need and are unaware of what they could be doing better. Financial literacy is something that all banks are required to proactively help people with. We try to get the word out and let people know that they can come to their banker with any questions, but I can imagine that many people might feel like they’re on their own.

We’ve seen a lot in the news about the banking crisis. Is there any other kind of crisis banks are facing that people might not know about?

I think people might not be aware of the amount of fraud that’s out there. There’s always somebody trying to take your money. Whether it’s Amazon scams, identity theft, or external transfer fraud, people really need to be more vigilant about sharing their personal information. I’ve seen children steal money from their elderly parents. That’s another thing, elder abuse, and it’s not even always from family. You work your entire life, just to spend $5,000 a month on an assisted living facility. Meanwhile they’re not in a place to make those kinds of decisions for themselves and their kids are left to handle them, and in many cases they can barely handle things for themselves.

What have you learned about people since working at a bank?

So many things. I’ve had so many conversations with older people, and it seems like a lot of them don’t have anyone to talk to. People are lonely, and it seems like there are people who will go to the bank just to feel seen. We are all looking for connection, life is complicated, and no one really knows what they’re doing.

Also, small businesses have it hard. There are so many fees. It’s really hard to get a business off the ground, and a lot of people struggle paying their bills. If you mismanage your funds or owe the bank a lot of money, it can be really hard to recover.

What does the future of banking look like? Do you think that there will always be a need for an in-person baking experience?

There’s an increasing need for global banking services since so many people work remotely. I think eventually there will be an easier way to access money overseas, and convert currencies. I’ve also heard people talk about one day having a global currency, but who knows if that will ever happen.

There will always be a need for a personalized banking experience. But I do envision there being more human driven virtual options, like Zoom calls for people who can’t necessarily make it to the bank. It’s hard for me to imagine a world where things would be fully automated. I think we’re going in a direction where banks are treated like doctors offices. If there isn’t anything wrong, you can check-in once a year to make sure everything is on-track.

What’s the saddest thing you’ve seen while working at a bank?

There was a woman who was about 50 years old and had around $300,000 in her bank account. She talked about wanting to go on trips and enjoying her money, but out of nowhere she got a cancer diagnosis and died six months later after working her whole life. She had no family or anyone else that she could enjoy it with and ended up listing 13 charities as beneficiaries on her account.

I’ve had a customer who wanted to add her foot doctor to her Trust. She literally didn’t have anyone else that she could think of. People are so lonely, and some of them have so much money, but they don’t have anyone in their life that they’d want to give it to.

In general, it’s always sad when people die suddenly. It’s crazy to me how quickly people’s lives can take a 180. All it takes is one thing to change your life forever

Who surprises you at the bank, and why?

It always surprises me when I have a nice customer, they can be rich or poor, but when one bad thing happens people’s true colors come out. People can be really nasty. We make so many exceptions for people, and they get used to that. I’ve had people get angry when I ask people for their identification. They’ll be like “I’ve been coming to this bank for 15 years.” But do you know my name? A lot of these things are in place to protect the security of people’s accounts.

It also surprises me how people don’t think about some of the decisions they make. Like recently I had a customer who thought he was talking to Jennifer Aniston and was sending her money. Why would Jennifer Aniston need your money? Another customer gave their debit card to someone they just met to buy alcohol and they ended up charging hundreds of dollars to their account. We ended up having to take away her debit card because we couldn’t trust her to make responsible decisions. Banking is a privilege, not a right.

-Max Goldstein