What is a relationship banker? If you are someone interested in having a more professional and well-balanced bank accounting system, this question may be bothering you a lot. Hopefully, this article helps answer a few of them.
1) What is a Relationship Banker?
Relationship bankers are professionals in the industry that have expertise in customer satisfaction and are knowledgeable about financial services.
A relationship banker is also termed a personal banker. A personal banker works in banks as a financial advisor and helps clients in making important decisions about their accounts. They also help clients make better sense of bank policies.
2) Relationship Banker Job Description
A crucial part of finding the answer to ‘what is a relationship banker’ is to understand the roles a relationship banker plays. Here are a few things that come under the responsibilities of a relationship banker position:
- Generate new business by meeting existing and prospective clients
- Help current members to manage their accounts well
- Review and offer suggestions for bank policies and finance-related trends
- Have a vast knowledge of topics related to finance and banking
- Process customer requests and works to resolve issues
- Attend to administrative duties, including answering calls and organizing important files and reports
- Have a good communication skillset to bring about the discussion regarding new policies and dealing with upper-management concerns
- Help clients make good investments.
3) Qualifications of a Relationship Banker
The next part of answering the question of what is a relationship banker is to understand the qualifications of one. There are three main components of becoming a relationship banker.
3.1) Bachelor’s Degree
The first step is to accomplish a bachelor’s degree. Most bachelor’s degree programs are of four years and offer you a chance to learn more about the banking industry and banking solutions. Make sure you major in areas related to the finance industry, business management, and accounting. This will help you demonstrate all that you learned.
Some banks may be lenient and make do with a high school diploma.
3.2) Work Experience in Customer Services Offered and Customer Satisfaction
The right education is just one part of getting a job as a relationship banker. The next part is getting enough practice. Working in entry-level positions in banks will help enhance your expertise. Working as a customer service representative or a bank teller will help show your skills that require you to interact and advise clients on important matters.
3.3) Master’s Degree
Relationship bankers have the potential to keep improving and learning. They have the chance to move to more complex jobs like branch managers, financial services sales agents, finance directors, and more. To reach a role with more responsibility and a higher salary, they need to gain a Master’s Degree in Finance or a Master’s Degree in Business Administration.
4) Skills and Personality Traits Required
People often assume that there’s only a technical aspect involved to become a relationship banker, but that is not true at all. To trust management services, clients require a banker who has many additional qualities aside from academic ones.
4.1) The Need to Serve
To help your client trust you, you need to be reliable. You need to give importance to your client’s needs. Of course, you need to prioritize emergencies and not always let your client boss you around, but considering your clients’ concerns and focusing on them is very important.
4.2) Transparency
Transparency helps your clients trust you. It shows them that you are genuine and reliable. Even if there’s something you can’t do for the client, you need to be honest about it.
4.3) Communication
Communication is crucial for the formation of any relationship. You need to be able to ask your clients questions diligently, listen to them actively, and propose solutions carefully and accurately. Having good verbal communication skills will help you connect and form good relationships with your clients.
4.4) Curiosity
It is important to keep growing and improving your skill set. Meeting new people, engaging in work-related activities, being updated about the stats in your field of work – all this helps increase your knowledge about your work, and in turn, helps serve your client better.
4.5) Planning
As a relationship banker, you will have a consistent and long relationship with your client. You need to have proper annual meetings, summarize what has been discussed, talk about what can be approved, and just be very active to bring them a good solution to their problem.
4.6) Empathy
Any good human being should have empathy. It is a really important trait to be able to relate to your client’s journey. Doing this will help ensure that you get a proper idea of what the client is experiencing and what they need help with.
4.7) Punctuality
Your client’s time is important, and your actions should not deceive them into believing the opposite. If you are not punctual for meetings and matching deadlines, your client won’t be able to trust you enough to work with you.
4.8) Team Oriented
Sometimes you may need to work with colleagues to assist your client. This also means that you must update your system for other colleagues to use. In case you are unavailable or are on a leave, your client won’t miss out on any important things.
5) Average Salary of a Relationship Banker
Research has shown that the average salary for a relationship banker in the US is $50,326. The average bonus they receive is $13,500 (1/27th of their salary). 100% of relationship bankers reported receiving a said bonus every year. In the US, the most a relationship banker can make is in New York ($50,790) which is around 1% greater than the rest of US relationship bankers.
The salaries could range from $25,860 to $59,477, and the median salary is $34,880. The middle 50% make between $34,880 and $42,721, and the top makes $59,477.
You have to cut the tax. A federal tax rate will make the salary of a relationship banker $43,315/year, with each paycheck being $1,805. With an amount like that, a relationship banker can afford an apartment with two rooms and will need to pay around 70% of their salary towards rent.
6) Merits and Demerits of Being a Relationship Banker
Being a relationship banker is more than just opening and closing accounts, and selling products and services – it is much more than just dealing with bank accounts. Because of the multiple roles involved in being a relationship banker, it isn’t only full of advantages.
6.1) Merits
Here are the benefits of being a relationship banker.
6.1.1) Fulfilling Career
Relationship bankers are people who get a good chance to help others. They play vital roles in society by helping people decide the right choice for investing and lending. They also play direct roles in helping clients make decisions like saving for college funds and purchasing a new house or car.
6.1.2) Flexible Schedule
Relationship bankers don’t always have rigid schedules. This helps them be flexible with their priorities and manage their personal and professional life better.
6.1.3) Good Compensation
As mentioned earlier, relationship bankers make a good amount of money and earn well in bonuses. They also get incentives for their work and aren’t in any way short of cash for a comfortable lifestyle.
6.1.4) Generous Benefit Packages
Relationship bankers also enjoy good benefits packages. They get offered medical, dental, and vision insurance; retirement plans; life insurance, and flexible accounts for child care.
6.1.5) Advancement Opportunities
Banks offer educational programs for people looking for development in the field. Good financial firms provide advancement and assistance for any relationship banker wanting to learn and upgrade their knowledge.
6.2) Demerits
Here are the disadvantages of being a relationship banker.
6.2.1) Every Day is Risky
As a banker, your job location may be likely to get mugged or robbed by armed robbers. This could lead to injury, even though this is a rare case scenario. Another risk is that you may not get paid on time, but that is more of a generalized issue that people in all jobs face.
6.2.2) It Can be Quite Tiring
While the schedule of a relationship banker is flexible, there’s still no guarantee that you will not have to tolerate 9 am -5 pm work hours. Any post in a bank can be very draining and tiring since it requires a lot of cognitive effort.
Sales agents, personal bankers, and other employees in the field face the issue of work overload and stress.
6.2.3) Rules and Regulations
Banks can often be strict about rules like clothes, which bank ATMs to use, and relationships in the office. While this is understandable, you may still feel overwhelmed and ridden by your individuality by the end of the week.
6.2.4) Risk of Crime
Unfortunately, bank jobs may make you vulnerable to the crime of your client. Often bankers get pulled into court cases related to their client’s expenses. Even if they are innocent, they still find themselves struggling to prove it and support their client while following the duties vested in them.
Conclusion
A relationship banker has a lot of commitment and contribution to offer to society. A relationship banker is much more than merely a financial advisor. A good relationship banker can provide financial solutions, manage financial statements, and can ensure that the products and services offered to help the client manage tough financial situations.
‘What is a relationship banker?‘ – finding answers to this question can help you understand more about people who ensure their clients make the right decisions, don’t fall into difficult financial situations, and don’t mismanage their bank accounts. Relationship bankers can help turn your banking experience upside down in a good way.
Last Updated on by ritukhare