How To Become A Retail Banker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a retail banker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

As a Retail Banker, you will be an expert in customer service. You will advise and assist with services such as setting up savings accounts, authorizing loans and moving money for clients. As a Retail Banker, you will be asked to help generate new business by selling to prospective and existing clients. A Retail Bank can have an extremely rewarding career.

As you begin your career in banking, you will first start as a teller and work your way through jobs in the retail branch, including Retail Banker. You will need great customer service skills, sales ability, organization, math skills, and enjoys helping people.

To become a Retail Banker, you will need customer service experience, knowledge of retail banking rules and procedures, knowledge of banking software and MS Office, plus patience. You may need to have a bachelor's in accounting, business administration, or finance. The median salary for a Retail Banker is about $35,000 a year.

ScoreRetail BankerUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $35,292

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.0

Growth Rate -3%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.85%

Asian 9.53%

Black or African American 10.50%

Hispanic or Latino 19.96%

Unknown 2.92%

White 56.24%

Gender

female 69.34%

male 30.66%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.7

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

8.9

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a retail banker

Explore retail banker education requirements

Most common retail banker degrees

Bachelor's

43.4 %

Associate

23.4 %

High School Diploma

21.0 %

Start to develop specific retail banker skills

Skills	Percentages
Excellent Organizational	11.99%
Taking Care	9.64%
Prioritize Workload	7.89%
Account Maintenance	7.49%
Security Procedures	7.36%

Complete relevant retail banker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New retail bankers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a retail banker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real retail banker resumes.

Research retail banker duties and responsibilities

Manage customer portfolios, service relationships, and used profiling analysis tools to identify cross-selling opportunities.
Train to sell and open new accounts with monthly goals as well as cross-sell banking products.
Develop and implement a variety of sales and marketing strategies including utilizing cross-selling skills.
Utilize profile analysis tools with current clients to better identify cross-selling opportunities and referrals with segment partners.

Prepare your retail banker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your retail banker resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a retail banker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Retail Banker Resume templates

Build a professional Retail Banker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Retail Banker resume.

Apply for retail banker jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a retail banker job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do retail bankers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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1 Star

Retail Banker reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2019

Pros

I enjoy engaging with clients, finding solutions to their financial needs, as well as account opening/personal lending.

Cons

I am not a sales/production driven individual. That aspect of the job- needing to worry about how many accounts I open or getting a certain amount booked in loans does not appeal to me. I enjoy the work, I like being challenged and busy, but I hate being a set of production scores.