The Case of the Vanishing Teller: How Banking’s Entry Level Jobs Are Transforming

By Katherine Townsend Kiernan

The financial services industry is undergoing a seismic transformation. Traditional roles, particularly entry-level positions like bank tellers, are being replaced by hybrid roles that demand advanced digital literacy, complex problem-solving, and sophisticated interpersonal skills. This transformation has troubling implications for the workforce, especially for workers without college degrees, who have historically been concentrated in roles most vulnerable to automation. But with challenge comes opportunity, especially for workers who can develop the right blend of technical and interpersonal skills. Through targeted training programs, policy interventions, and cross-sector partnerships that focus on developing skills, we can create pathways for upward mobility in a dynamic and unpredictable labor market environment.

Who Gets Left Behind: The Vanishing World of Bank Tellers

The role of the bank teller has been quietly fading through a slow shift driven by digital banking, mobile apps, and automation—reshaping which human skills are valued and where opportunity lies. While more than 340,000 teller positions still exist, employment in the role has declined nearly 30% since 2010, and job postings have dropped by almost two-thirds. Tellers today also struggle to climb the career ladder: only 4% transition into higher-paying roles like loan officers. As this entry-level gateway disappears, so do the career pathways that have long supported workers without a four-year degree.

Figure 1. Job Postings for Teller Positions

Source: BGI Analysis of Lightcast Job Postings, 2010-2024

Customers now increasingly demand "human-less" banking experiences for routine transactions, pushing financial institutions to radically redesign customer interactions. In response, two new roles—Relationship Bankers and Universal Bankers—have emerged. These positions reflect a nuanced reality: while human-to-human interaction remains essential, the nature of that interaction has transformed. As their name suggests, these roles are more involved than the original teller role that they are in many ways replacing. Universal and Relationship bankers are expected to know more about lending measures and be able to sell banking products to customers in a way that tellers were generally not expected to do.  

No longer focused on cash handling, these roles demand sophisticated skills in digital navigation, product understanding, and interpersonal engagement—bearing little resemblance to the transactional work typical just a decade ago. Yet even these emerging roles reflect the harsh economic realities facing early-career workers in financial services. When these roles first emerged in the early 2010s, they commanded nearly $70,000 annually. Today, median wages are around $52,000–a decline of around one-quarter.

Figure 2. Evolution of Teller Skills - Traditional vs. Emerging Roles

Source: BGI Analysis of Lightcast Job Postings Data 2010 - 2024

Career Mobility and Barriers to Advancement

In 2023, financial services employed over 7 million workers across roughly 23 occupations focused on finance, with 10 of those occupations accessible without a four-year degree. These 10 roles employed 3 million workers—about 43% of the industry's total workforce—with an average salary of $49,513. Accounting for nearly 5% of total financial services industry employment, the teller role seemed a good entry point for workers without degrees to launch a career in financial services. The numbers back this up: 64% of tellers are promoted within three years, according to Burning Glass Institute analysis.

Clicking a level deeper, a more nuanced picture emerges. Many promotions are often semi-lateral moves within the teller occupation (e.g., Teller to Senior Teller). And while the most lucrative transitions are to Personal or Relationship Banker, earning a wage premium of up to $18,000, most only lead to increases of about $6,750 annually, bumping workers to annual salaries of $32,500. If tellers were able to bridge the gap between their current occupation to some of the higher paying non-BA finance roles, their salary potential would double: Tellers who get promoted into a new occupation see new salaries of roughly $68,000 on average. These roles include Loan Officers, Auditors, Financial Specialists, and New Account Clerks.

A look at the data for those advancing to higher-paying occupations highlights educational attainment as a major barrier to mobility for tellers, 83% of whom do not have a bachelor's degree. Of the eight most common roles tellers transition into, most usually require a degree. While some occupations—like Financial Specialists and Sales Representatives—have a more balanced distribution of workers with and without bachelor's degrees, the pattern is clear: roles requiring higher education offer substantially higher wages. The two transitions that do not require additional formal education pay dramatically less than those demanding a college degree. This suggests that salary progression in financial services is systematically constrained by educational requirements.

Figure 3. Pathways in Finance Limited by Education Barriers

Source: BGI Analysis of Worker Career Histories; National OEWS; Lightcast Job Postings (2023)

The Fintech Revolution: A Mirage of Opportunity

The rapid growth of financial technology has been consistently portrayed as a democratizing force—a sector promising unprecedented career mobility for workers without traditional four-year degrees. This narrative suggests that coding bootcamps, online learning platforms, and technical certifications could rapidly transform entry-level workers into high-earning tech professionals.

But despite the industry's reputation for disruption, 76% of FinTech workers hold bachelor's degrees, and the sector remains dramatically smaller than traditional banking. Indeed, while about 1 in every 4 workers in FinTech (not including customer service/call center reps) do not have a BA, all the occupations in the sector typically require one. In corporate banking roles, most of the occupations typically require a degree, but roughly 1 in 3 people do not have a degree, indicating a greater opportunity for skills-based transitions in this area of banking. ​Corporate banking is seven times larger than FinTech, while branch banking is eight times its size. Moreover, employers remain skeptical of non-traditional training, frequently defaulting to degree requirements as a proxy for skill verification. The result is a sector that promises radical opportunity but predominantly reproduces existing educational and professional gatekeeping mechanisms.

Figure 4. Sub-BA employment by sub-sector

Skills as Workforce Adaptation Strategy

The challenges facing bank tellers are not an isolated phenomenon. As digital innovations systematically redesign traditional roles, the skills required for career success are fundamentally changing. The teller's journey—from a transactional, cash-handling position to a more complex role demanding digital literacy and sophisticated interpersonal capabilities—serves as a critical case study in workforce adaptation.

This evolution reveals a pivotal insight: success in the modern financial services landscape no longer depends on performing routine tasks, but on developing a dynamic, integrated skill set that can navigate rapid technological change. Emerging positions are increasingly centered around communications and sales practices—skills that develop through experience and don't necessarily require structured educational or technical training. Nevertheless, some technical skills remain highly valued: skills in mobile banking and data analytics have a growing importance within the financial sector, offering professionals a 37% wage premium. But the most promising career trajectories emerge at the intersection of technical skills and sophisticated interpersonal capabilities.

Figure 5. Key Skill Characteristics

Source: BGI Analysis of Lightcast Job Postings

Spotlight on Hispanic Workers in Financial Services

The technological transformation of financial services intersects critically with workforce demographics, presenting both challenges and opportunities for Hispanic professionals. Currently representing 17.3% of the financial services workforce—slightly below their 19% share of the overall US workforce—Hispanic workers are disproportionately concentrated in roles most vulnerable to technological displacement.

Hispanic workers are overrepresented in positions like tellers, which are rapidly declining due to automation and digital banking trends, while simultaneously being underrepresented in higher-paying roles like loan officers. The representation numbers are revealing: tellers are 21% Hispanic (rising to 28% at five top retail banks), while loan officers are just 13% Hispanic (15% at top 5 banks).

Wage data further underscores these economic barriers. Most finance occupations earn between $50,000 and $75,000 annually, but higher-earning banking positions show significantly lower representation of Hispanic workers. For Hispanic professionals, particularly those historically concentrated in entry-level banking roles, emerging skill-based pathways represent more than career transitions—they offer a strategic approach to economic advancement, circumventing traditional educational barriers and creating more resilient professional identities.

Figure 6. Major Finance Occupations by Annual Salary and Share Hispanic

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Population Survey, Household Data, Annual Averages, Table 11: Employed Persons by Detailed Occupation, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity. https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. National Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

Looking Ahead

As technological advancements continue to reshape industries, the transformation of roles like bank tellers serves as a powerful example of how workforce adaptation is crucial for economic survival. Economic survival now depends on viewing skills as portable assets rather than sector-specific credentials. In an era of technological disruption, skills must become the primary currency of career advancement, particularly for workers without traditional educational credentials. The skills gap—while a significant challenge—also represents an opportunity: by focusing on upskilling and reskilling, we can unlock new pathways for workers, particularly those without traditional college degrees, to advance in their careers.

Workers must become adept at translating their capabilities across multiple professional domains, with workforce development systems providing the critical infrastructure to support these transformations.

To realize this potential, workforce development systems must evolve. Employers, policymakers, and educators must collaborate to build an infrastructure that fosters continuous learning, identifies emerging skill needs, and creates pathways for career progression that are flexible and accessible. Targeted training, strategic policy interventions, and cross-sector partnerships are critical to bridging the gap and ensuring that workers are equipped to thrive in a technology-driven economy.

As we look toward the future, the success of this transformation will be determined by our ability to adapt not just to technological change, but to the evolving needs of the workforce. By prioritizing skills development, we can create a more resilient, equitable labor market that empowers workers to transition seamlessly between industries and roles, ensuring long-term economic mobility and growth.