5 things your bank teller isn’t telling you
They can waive fees and love to gossip.
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- We can drop fees. Why dig into your pockets when tellers routinely waive bank draft, certified cheque and overdraft fees? There’s no harm in asking for a break, especially in extenuating circumstances or when service is slow. “If I take forever with a transaction then I waive the fee as a courtesy,” said a teller who has worked at several major Canadian banks.
- We have sales quotas. Most tellers have monthly credit-card and referral quotas based on hours worked and tied to year-end bonuses, so watch out for aggressive over-the-counter sales pitches. Some banks even have special premiums that make bonuses skyrocket after a certain amount of product is sold. Even credit limit increases count toward quotas at some banks.
- We overlook details. Tellers often miss the date on postdated cheques and process them anyway. If and when a premature transaction is caught, you will be called by the bank to return the money until the original date transpires. It’s best to double-check when cashing a cheque since the onus is on you.
- We’re smarter than you think. Since bank tellers have pretty good insight into your spending habits they tend to offer money-saving suggestions. For instance, a reward card may be suggested to a customer who spends a lot on gas and groceries. “When I see an opportunity to increase a person’s savings or reduce their debt load, I want to help them,” said the teller. “I wish people were a little more receptive to that.”
- Some of us love to gossip. Tellers have exclusive access to your chequings, savings and investment accounts. While they’re not supposed to sift through personal transaction details unless there is a reason to, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. “We can see everything and sometimes chat among ourselves about how much money so-and-so is making and spending,” said another source at a bank.
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