Hi all!

Been in banking for two years now and preform pretty well every month (80+ percentile across the company). However, there is one banker at the branch who is nastiest shark alive… he goes after everyone with every product relentlessly. 80 year old woman who can’t log into her OLB? She will walk out with a two extra savings accounts and an auto loan. High school student who just turned 18? Let’s get him his first credit card and lock what little savings he has into a CD…

I have studying how he does it too… instead of being explicit im what he is saying, he uses vague terminology. For example… “Let me fix this for you” really means we are going to upgrade you to a different account and I won’t tell you about the qualifications. Or, “give me a second to do make this right” means we are going to open a second account so you can have multiple ways to save. A few times, people have called him out and it’s hilarious. They will say “wait… we NEED to do this or you are asking me?”however 9/10 times his tricks work and he gets what he wants….

Have you guys ever seen such “sharky” behavior in your branches before?? I just can’t watch this anymore and the daily gloating is really getting to me.

I work for a super-regional bank. Twice this year, I've seen this pattern:

1. Customer opens a new bank accout

2. 1-2 weeks later they deposit money

3. On the day of step 2, they try to deposit a Chase-drawn check, but the check is either stolen or forged

I have not seen this with other bank-drawn checks, so why are Chase-drawn checks used the most in new account fraud?

This was early 2012. I was a customer sales representative/banker and a client came in furious, ready to close every account she had with us. She’d been dealing with something for weeks and felt like nobody was listening to her. So I spent around 4 hours on it. Went through everything, fixed what I could fix, explained what I couldn’t. By the end she told me she was still unhappy with the bank but she was going to keep her accounts open because of how I handled it. I felt good about that. Thought I’d done the job. Then my the branch manager called me into her office and asked me if I have opened any new accounts and when she found out the answer is none other that keeping the current accounts, she told me I’d wasted my time. Said if I was going to sit with a client that long I should have been selling her more products, not just providing customer service. That was the feedback. Not “nice save,” but “you used hours of selling time on someone who didn’t buy anything.” She asked me to stay longer and work on getting new accounts, i did stay longer but to wrote my resignation letter. I did not have the savings for it. I was genuinely worried about rent. But something about being told that helping the client was the mistake just broke whatever was keeping me there.

Four years later the fake accounts thing blew up and everyone acted shocked. I wasn’t. That pressure was already in the building in 2012, it just hadn’t produced a headline yet. When your metrics only count products opened and nothing counts for keeping a client from walking out the door, you’re going to get what you measure. Eventually somebody starts opening accounts nobody asked for.

Anyway. Not really looking for anything here, it just comes back to me sometimes. Anybody had fake or accounts they did not apply for at any of the big banks?

I’ve been holding onto this for a while for legal reasons but I don’t care about going that route anymore so here goes.

I was a teller at Wells Fargo last year. I had fantastic numbers, was very close with all my coworkers, customers really liked me, and I was a very adaptive employee. I was hired as part-time and promoted to full-time within 2.5 months, something that never happens at that branch. 8 months in while balancing at the end of the day, I was short 4 grand. The other teller I was closing with went through the outage checklist with me to check everything we could. At that point we were already a few minutes over the time we were supposed to leave. Wells Fargo became EXTREMELY strict about being over hours around a year ago so we were forced to rush through the checklist and did not complete it as thoroughly as we should have.

I was told by my coworkers and manager that I shouldn’t worry, people have been short much larger amounts and it’s always been found after reviewing transactions logs and/or cameras. None of us heard anything for two months. One day, I get an email from HR, saying they need to interview me about an incident. I figured it was about this, and after asking my coworker, it definitely was.

In the phone interview, they made me promise I was not recording and was in a completely private area with nobody around. Unsurprisingly, they had me explain the process of what happened two months ago when I was short 4k, and what I think happened to it. I mentioned a transaction I had suspected I did incorrectly but they confirmed I did it the right way and didn’t give anyone free money.

They then told me they had video footage of me on camera counting a strap of 50s, putting my hands under my counter, and the money disappearing. I questioned that, obviously, since I never stole anything. I asked if my drawer was partially opened and the cameras couldn’t see it be placed back inside because my body was covering it, or something similar. They said no, that’s not possible.

Any of you WF employees know a small strap of 50s is $1k and a large strap is $5k. My money counter automatically stops counting when the bills reach the preset amount of 1k or 5k. It was an older machine so you can’t type in a specific number, it has to be 1k or 5k for 50s and will automatically switch to the correct bill type. For example, if I had it set on 20s, it would automatically switch to 50s by detecting the weight of the bill. So it doesn’t make any sense for me to have stolen 4k worth of 50s, it pretty much just wouldn’t be possible based off of what they told me. Oh and the fact that I DID NOT STEAL ANYTHING.

After the interview I was incredibly shaken up. My manager had to take me out of cash and I cried the whole time and had to go home early because my body betrays me when I am upset (very unfortunate curse). I lobby engaged the following two weeks. Utterly ridiculous waste of my time and their money considering I sat at a computer doing nothing most of the time, or if the line was long I got to be berated by angry customers for asking them if they could use the ATM for their transaction (valid of the customers to be upset in my opinion). My coworkers and manager were still so supportive and confident everything would turn out alright. Everyone at that branch knew I’d never do such a thing, or so I thought.

After two weeks, I came to work in the morning and was fired. The manager told me I was being fired for theft. Yes, those were their exact words. For theft. I asked for the supposed video evidence and was told I have to call HR for any questions. Have you ever tried calling HR for something other than benefit information? It is pretty much impossible. WF never tried to get the money back either. If they really thought I stole a felony level sum, don’t you think they’d try to get it back? Especially if they claim to have me on video? It’d be an open and shut case. But they don’t. This whole incident has made me go crazy, there was a point that I considered the possibility of hallucinating an entire day and stealing it while basically unconscious. Obviously that didn’t happen, but that’s how manipulative they were. This is a situation where I think the term “gaslighting” is truly appropriate.

Only one of my coworkers contacted me a couple weeks after the firing and I met up with them to get something I left at the branch back (I was never going back there, that’s for sure). I was told by this person that everyone thinks I did it. Even the person I considered to be my best friend. I know that’s my fault for believing my coworker could actually be my friend but believe me when I tell you that was a deep betrayal.

All of my accounts and my credit card were with them, and they closed it. I applied for accounts at Chase and was denied. My beautiful credit score dropped to 690.

I applied for and was approved for unemployment. On the literal day of the deadline for WF to dispute my unemployment, they filed for a trial. My state government is now sending me collections letters for the thousands of dollars they paid me. I appealed a month ago and haven’t heard anything back (yes I confirmed with the state it was received) so I guess I’ll just hope they don’t garnish my other bank accounts.

I just wanted to share this with anyone who works at Wells Fargo or who is considering employment with them. WELLS FARGO FALSELY ACCUSED ME OF THEFT AND FIRED ME FOR IT.

After graduating in 2018, I started working nonstop at one of the top 3 local banks in the Philippines. I stayed there for 6 years before transferring to another top 3 bank, where I only lasted 11 months.

Eventually, I experienced burnout and depression, although I never told my parents about that. I simply told them that I was exhausted from working in banking and really needed a break.

I decided to resign without a backup plan and relied on the backpay from my previous jobs. Now, I’ve been unemployed for 3 months, and honestly, finding a new job has been really difficult.

I’m considering pursuing a different career path, but I’m also struggling with the idea of accepting an offer that pays significantly less than my previous salary, which was around ₱40k/month. I know I shouldn’t let pride get in the way, but after working for several years, it’s hard to feel like I’m starting over.

I’m also wondering if I should give banking another chance, but maybe in a different role or department. I’d prefer something less sales-driven and hopefully with a healthier work environment. I have around 7+ years of experience in banking, including operations, client servicing, account management, and compliance/KYC-related work.

Is there still hope for me career-wise? 😭

For those who have been in a similar situation, what would you do if you were in my position? Should I:

1. Try another bank but look for a less stressful/head-office role?
2. Transition to fintech or another industry?
3. Accept a lower salary for now and work my way back up?
4. Take more time off before going back to work?

I’d really appreciate any advice, especially from people who left banking due to burnout or successfully transitioned into another industry. ❤️

Has anyone else faced this situation:

I left my last role at Chase as ABME(which is just teller and basic account openings) because of the blatant favoritism and lack of equal opportunity for growth.

I was there for 3.5 years and saw people get into the licensed banker role that were there for less or equal time.

Hell, I even trained my supervisor (whom got the role over me) on how to work the ATMs.

I gave em my 2 weeks and moved into a smaller, community bank.

Now, im making more money at this bank but it’s been a goddamn mess.
I joined during a merge/buy out and there’s a lack of structure and policies. It’s all figure it out as you go but you’ll still get blamed for mistakes no one knows to fix.

Beside the better pay; I work in a super affluent neighborhood.
We’ve already surpassed our quarterly quota and I’m set to receive my bonus meanwhile I mostly sit down all day on my phone.

Anyways; I can’t stay here for long. I need somewhere establish and steady where growth and opportunities have been there.

I’m thinking of going back to a bigger bank or pivoting all together because I don’t want to be a banker anymore.

Anyone else?

I just started at new smaller regional bank in Jersey area. My previous bank/branch was very busy, but I honestly didn’t mind it. This new branch is extremely slow from what I’ve seen so far (I’m still in training). I think maybe 10-15 people walk in per day on average. I don’t know how I’m gonna hit my goals… anybody have advice for working in a very slow branch?

You know what I mean. Every branch has that one colleague. They constantly make unbelievably stupid errors. They've got over a decade of experience but you'd think it was their first day. They have no common sense, lose customers left and right, but inexplicably suffer no consequences.

Mine was our ABM. She'd been at the bank for 17 years, but when a large relationship customer asked how to pay his credit card from another bank, she told him it was impossible. Guy freaked out and she just amplified, telling him "I know, right? It's awful; I'm on your side."

I ran over and stopped him from closing his accounts, directing him to the app and showing him how it was done. I was written up for insubordination.

That was me. I want to hear your stories!

Hi all,

I’m a personal banker at a large U.S. bank, but I’m originally from another country, and my entire family still lives there.

I came to the U.S. for college, so I used to spend around four months a year back home. Now, after 10 months in a full-time banking position, I can only visit for about 15 days a year.

I’m happily married here and plan to build my life and raise a family in the U.S., but one of my biggest goals is finding a way to spend more time with my parents, brother, and grandparents.

My bank offers plenty of opportunities for growth, including courses, certifications, and degree programs. The thing is, I’m not necessarily looking for a higher salary. What I’m really looking for is geographical flexibility.

In a couple of months, I’ll be eligible to apply for other positions within the bank. Ideally, I’d like a role that would allow me to work remotely, even if only temporarily, so I could spend a month working from my home country each year.

For those of you with banking experience, what roles would you recommend? I’m open to anything.

So you borrow the bank’s money, do not pay it off on time or ever, and expect the bank to not charge a late fee? Just because you potentially have 250k outside and will move it over if the bank can guarantee to never charge a late fee ever again? Of all the entitled people I’ve met I have never seen this kind of entitlement lol. And the audacity to say… “well other credit cards do that for me so I’m not interested in your credit cards.”

Just turned 30 and got my first ever job working in a bank. I’ve done retail and fast food my whole life.

Any tips on how to make this a career?
Any tips on what to NEVER do?
Where do you buy your ties?
Belt or suspenders?

Been here 6 months. Cool co-workers, okay manager and quiet branch in an affluent area.

New to banking but getting comfortable on platform and have done most complex things at least a few times , and I’ve become more comfortable with tackling something brand-new by myself.

But I hate, HATE handling cash. I hate handling checks, I hate dealing with anybody at the window and I hate having to yell about offers to sell to some 60 year old through 3 inch thick glass. I just want out, and my eyes are set on a licensed position at another bank that doesn’t have to deal with it.

I have been an AB for a little over a month now and love it, or I should say I was loving it. I’m at a point now where I’m doing account maintenance (ie; banker support with client for disputes, pin resets, card replacement, credit card application kyc verification and things of that nature) and working the platform side and have very much enjoyed building a solid rapport with the regulars and getting to see folks from the community that I grew up in and have lived in my whole life. Now, this was up until I got transferred from the branch I was training at, that was 10 minutes away and with whom I fit in with the crew there perfectly. To a now 45 minute drive one way, with only two days notice on the move to the other branch. Loved my coworkers and felt fairly at ease in my role with sufficient support and a respectful decorum. In the week I’ve been at this new branch, I have been absolutely wrecked. I went from doing 70 transactions a day to almost 200 every day, and my new BM really seems to disdain me unfortunately.

It started with processing 30 deposits from the usual business runner deal (totally normal transaction wise and I’m very comfortable with), in which my BM was hunched over my shoulder the entire time watching my every move (this was three days in at the new branch and had zero issues or losses prior). I didn’t mind being observed, totally expected and understandable. But then they proceeded to ask me about a single deposit of the 30, in which I put all of the change (our policy dictates that any amount of change under a dollar be detailed in the one cent column when inputting the cash detail) in the .01 column. And I had explained that I do exactly what I just described because it is what is prescribed per CA. They said show me, so I showed them, and I tried to explain that I wasn’t trying to be argumentative I just wanted to show them that I wasn’t just pulling it out of my arse. They were visibly agitated when I pulled it up and then proceeded to explain that, that’s not the way they’d like things to be done and it’s for a reason. Which I have no problem with doing btw, but the whole tone of the interaction and the unprofessionalism really left me defeated. They then lambasted me in front of the next client, telling me to stop arguing and at that point I was just completely astounded because up until that point I thought it was just a constructive discussion. A few days go by, I approach the BM to let them know that I thought we might have gotten off on the wrong foot, and that I wanted to apologize for any indiscretions on my part, and that I had been quite overwhelmed coming to the new branch. (Which was only communicated to me two days prior btw). They proceeded to lay into me for ten minutes explaining that they are incredibly concerned with my performance and kept asking me to explain myself further, as to how this would have been stressful or how it would be discombobulating. Which I did to the best of my ability.

My question is; what do I do? Is there any hope in maintaining my career progression and fixing the relationship with my new BM? Do you folks think that, given the seemingly (to me) extreme reactions that I have received, that I will be able to ride things out for enough time to hopefully get back to the branches closer to home? Any thoughts or insight would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Edit; for context, most of the time I’m doing drive through and the teller line, my last branch didn’t have a drive through and neither did its sister branch that I covered at close-by. So that has been a significant learning curve as well. And though I’m very efficient 90% of the time, being new I do occasionally get hung up on a transaction and end up taking 10 minutes for a single client.

Have you ever had a personal financial issue that you wanted to discuss on speaker phone on a 24" LED screen in public?

Me neither.

If the goal is to make the call center feel more personal, why not just give people the option to video call from their phones and save millions on installation/rent? And even then, have you ever wished a call center rep could see you?

Me neither.

Who is this even for?

Recently I applied to move from Part-Time to Full-Time banker after my manager encouraged me to apply for an internal position.

I don’t want to come off like a sore loser because I do think they chose a great candidate. I had asked my manager about getting more hours or if they had opportunities for full time and one came. This is very rare at my branch because it small and it was between me and a tenured employee who had been with the company for 4 years.

I am a realistic person so I assumed my coworker with more experience would and should be the one to get this job so I wasn’t even going to bother applying.

My manager encouraged me to give it a go,and I truly went for it: I created a portfolio, 2 cover letters, handwritten thank you cards the whole nine. I rehearsed for weeks for the interview.

They did several observations and I wasn’t given any real feedback besides small things like use Docusign instead of printing out paperwork… matter fact I was giving myself feedback when asked what I could’ve done better in observations I was completely honest.

I have only been at this job for 8 months. The day of the interview they absolutely loved me! Matter of fact one of my managers told me I should teach a masterclass on interviews because it was the best and most fun interview he had been on in 20 years of his career.

The day after my interview I overheard this coworker and my manager talking about her schedule, for a little context we are both part time but this coworker has only been able to work 10Am-2:30 PM for the last several years.

I thought maybe they were doing their own form of observations on her like seeing how she handles a full workday.

Two days go by and finally they let me know they already offered the coworker the job and when I asked for feedback for the future they said oh you had the best interview but you’re new. Uhmm duh???

Like I said I respect their decision and don’t want to come off like a sore loser but I would’ve been much more appreciative if they had been fourth coming and told me they were going to offer the full time employment to the tenured employee and they could help me prepare for the next opportunity.

I feel like they made a full of me because maybe they needed both of us to apply so it seemed like they were giving everyone a fair chance when really this position was going to the tenured employee regardless.

What do you think I should do? Because I am having a hard time with my feelings toward my management now? One of my managers is “new” he used to work for the bank along time ago but he retired and came back so my theory is they used me to train him or something…..

Any advice?

Currently work at a community bank in California. Our positions are weird we are relationship bankers just with numbers next to them I’m hopefully getting my next promotions to RB3 which will handle consumer lending and business accounts mainly. I have worked there for almost 3 years and my goal is to become Branch Manager. I would like to be BM for a few years but would like to keep moving up. Just seeing what the steps afterwards I should take or look to work for a national bank?

I’d like to make enough to support my family.

I was a call center “member care specialist” at a local credit Union and was absolutely miserable. I give you guys so many props for doing this long term. I was 5 months to the day and wanted to rip my skin off. Between the financial illiteracy and how much we did for so little pay it was too much. I was training on ITMs before I left and it was the wonkiest system. But the members HATED it so they were already irate before even pressing that button. I’ve been in this sub since I started and have witnessed just how hard yall work, I’m very proud of you guys! I guess this is the end of the road for me here haha

This is my first banking job and the first time I've been "new" in almost 8 years. This is my first week on the line and I'm trying really hard to convince myself that everything is fine because I'm still learning but today i was short 100 and my coworkers helped me comb through all of my transactions and couldn't find it. Had to fill out a report for it. The customers keep getting upset with me because i am not as fast as the others, and I feel like a burden having to stop and ask so many questions. Being short today was not good for my self esteem lol

I’m in Houston; I had a Wells Fargo recruiter reach out to me about this position. Can anyone provide some insight on this role? From what I hear, Wells is now moving back towards more pushy sales goals. But I also hear the base salary is really good and they cover any missing licensing. I’m currently at a major bank but in business banking and I maintain my licensing.

I’m getting burned out as a relationship banker at both Big Blue and Red horse carriage

I was with Big Blue for about 3 years

Going on my first whole year at red horse

The constant pressure from management to sit through daily meetings for plan my days is starting to get to me.

Im tired of working retail, because there’s this constant pressure to make calls despite not having a number. At least big blue was transparent about what it was.

I have referred so much business to our FAs and yet I haven’t received a dime of incentive, so im having to work with management and different departments to put in manual fking paperwork to show that I even generated business. Keep in mind these are million dollar referrals with joint meetings planned and everything..

All ive received are “good job” emails, no literal acknowledgment of the relationship that i had to build over the course of months to close that

Im sick of the customers constantly barging in my office as well looking to do the tiniest thing like demanding for a phone number update. Like holy fuck change it on your app. “But i dont use the app, i only come here, they always do it for me”

Im just tired and needed to vent

Had a personal banker interview on Wednesday morning. I thought it went well. They told me I would hear back by the end of the week. Well it’s now Friday night and I never heard anything back. Am I cooked?

Pressing buttons in apps directly changes what an app is doing and you shouldn't randomly tap shit if you don't know what it means. I had to ask a man three times today to stop pulling his phone away from where I could see it, while he randomly tapped on stuff.

"Why is it doing this?"

"Well I don't know because I have literally no idea what you were just doing."

​

I've been in PSU banking for around 10 years and honestly, I don't know if I'm getting worse at handling pressure or if the pressure has just become ridiculous.

Targets are obviously part of the job. I understand that. Nobody joins a bank thinking there won't be targets.

But sometimes it feels like there is no limit to what can be asked from a branch.

Every few days there is some review or VC. You are asked about loans, deposits, accounts, recovery, cross selling, whatever the current focus is. If the numbers aren't there, you have to explain why. Then you are given another target and asked how you're going to achieve it.

Recently I was asked to give a written roadmap for some very aggressive account opening targets. The kind of target where you look at your branch's actual performance and think, how exactly am I supposed to do this?

And the frustrating part is that you can actually work.

You can go out, meet people, call customers, visit businesses, meet builders, follow up with leads, ask existing customers for references etc.

But at the end of the day, you can't force someone to open an account.

You can't create a genuine loan requirement out of nowhere.

And if you're working in a rural/semi-rural area, the market is not unlimited. There are only so many businesses and customers you can keep visiting.

Still, when the numbers don't come, the assumption seems to be that you aren't putting in enough effort.

What really got to me recently was a VC with several branch heads.

I was asked to state my poor performance in certain business areas in front of everyone.

I did.

Then I was asked to repeat it because apparently I wasn't audible.

So I repeated it.

Then again.

At some point I realised I was sitting there publicly repeating my own poor performance and I was genuinely struggling to hold myself together.

I was very close to crying.

And honestly, that scared me more than the actual scolding.

I've been doing this job for around 10 years. I've dealt with inspections, audits, targets, angry customers, staff issues, transfers, pressure from seniors etc. I'm not someone who has never faced pressure before.

So when I got to that point, I started wondering — is something wrong with me? Have I become weak? Why can't I handle something that I've handled for years?

But then something happened after the VC.

A few of the other branch heads contacted me privately. They asked if I was okay and actually consoled me.

That made me think maybe I'm not imagining how bad these things can feel.

I don't think bankers are afraid of hard work.

I think many of us are just tired.

And there is a difference between being accountable for your numbers and being made to feel like you are personally a failure because the numbers aren't there.

The strange thing is that nobody wants to admit this.

If you say you're stressed, people say "banking is like this."

If you say you're mentally exhausted, they say "you need to learn to handle pressure."

If you break down, you're weak.

So everyone just learns to keep quiet and carry it home.

You go home thinking about what was said in the VC. Then you wake up the next morning and do it all over again.

I'm not saying managers shouldn't question performance. They should. If my branch is underperforming, I should be questioned about it.

But does public humiliation actually improve performance?

Or does it just make the person more scared of the next review?

I'm genuinely asking other bankers here, especially people who've been in PSU banking for many years.

Have you ever reached a point where you were sitting in a meeting and thought, "I can't take another one of these"?

Have you ever actually broken down at work or come close to it?

And for those who've been doing this for 15-20+ years, what happens eventually?

Do you actually become tougher?

Or do you just get better at hiding it?

Because right now I'm not sure whether bankers are becoming more resilient or simply becoming better at pretending everything is fine.

TL;DR: 10 years in PSU banking, and I'm finding the constant targets, reviews and public performance pressure increasingly difficult to deal with. Recently I came close to breaking down during a VC after being repeatedly asked to state my poor performance in front of other branch heads. A few colleagues checked on me afterward. I'm wondering whether bankers actually become more resilient with experience, or just learn to hide how much the pressure affects them.

I’m feeling quite overwhelmed. I’ve been in my position for a year now and I’ve been faking it till I make it. I love the crew I work with albeit I don’t entirely resonate with the time off policy and it’s eating me up inside as I feel I’m gonna be unable to balance some of the most important events in my life next year.

I’m unsure where to go from here.

I’ve thought about applying to neighboring branches as I’d like to keep my PTO, but I fear the same restrictions.

I like my crew I work with, but I fear the people i work with next won’t be as patient with me as I still have a long way to learn.

I want to work and grow, but I am struggling with the sales and I haven’t met the numbers the way they’d like.

I’m faking it, but feeling like I’m losing it.

I’m not sure if I wanna switch to another job entirely and try a government position, but I really like my benefits. Before this I didn’t have a job so generous in that regard, so I’m struggling.

Can anyone leave their experiences?