Teller Skills Customer Service Fundamentals

Teller Money Handling and Balancing Tips
Lack of Organization
As a teller you handle hundreds of bills, coins, checks, and receipts every day. When
these items aren’t properly organized, it’s easy for errors to occur. To avoid
organization errors:
o keep your cash drawer arranged neatly at all times
o sell excess money back to vault
o establish specific locations for receipts, checks, etc.
o put trash in waste can
o place all loose bills face up and in the same direction before counting
o verify all cash by counting it three times
Change of Pace
Tellers are most likely to stay accurate when they work at a steady, comfortable
pace. When there are fewer customers than usual, tellers aren’t able to keep a
constant rhythm. And the break in rhythm can cause them to make errors. Likewise,
when lines of customers form, tellers are tempted to increase their pace, which also
disrupts their rhythm.
To avoid mistakes when the pace changes:
o stay focused on every transaction
o stick to your routine
o avoid chatting longer with customers when you’re not busy
Common Balancing Errors
As we discussed earlier, the easiest way to stay in balance is to avoid making any mistakes in
the first place. But mistakes do happen from time to time... to every teller. Even the most
careful and accurate tellers occasionally make errors and find themselves out of balance.
Keep in mind that you handle hundreds of transactions each day... an occasional mistake is
bound to happen. And once you’ve made a mistake, the faster you can figure out what you’ve
done, the sooner you’ll be able to balance your drawer.
There are many reasons why tellers don’t balance. Five of the most common errors include:
• Listing errors
• Errors in recording cash-ins or cash-outs
• Errors in transferring cash
• Counting errors
• Machine entry errors
Listing Errors
These are mistakes in the way numbers are written or entered on the teller
terminal or when completing cash-in or cash-out tickets. Listing errors account for
most of the errors made in balancing. They include illegible numbers, misplaced
digits or decimal points, and transposition errors (reversing the order in which
numbers are listed).
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