Why banks could soon start phasing out teller jobs and explore digital space

Renowned Australian author Brett King predicts many banks are likely to start phasing out teller jobs as they follow customers to digital spaces.

Speaking exclusively to The Standard, Mr King - who has given key note addresses on disruptive technology in over 40 countries, graced TED conferences as well as authored Amazon best-selling books on the future of banks - said the next 15 years would see the role of tellers shrink significantly.

According to King, as banks become more technology-based to serve the growing demand of customers, they will have to reorganise their structures, leading to job cuts.

"As this happens, a lot of old skills we had in banking halls like tellers and credit risk officers can no longer be suitable. There is a 98 per cent chance that bank tellers over the next 15 years will become largely extinct," he said.

His sentiments come at a time when more than seven local banks have declared their intention to lay off workers, citing the realigning of business into the changing realities.

King sees a shift to the digital space sounding a death knell for structures such as mortgage, credit card and savings lines to make banking an experience rather than products.

Bank branches, he added, would continue reducing in number and significance, forcing those who remain to be less focused on transactions.

However, as teller jobs die, he predicts new jobs requiring totally different skills will emerge.

King, who is in the country to help Kenya Commercial Bank fine-tune the launch of its financial technology strategy, said new skills such as data scientists, behavioural psychologists and programmers would become available.

In addition, those with design skills as well as those with the ability to create digital communities will find their way into the banks to replace tellers.

Confronted with a choice between training existing staff into these new roles or laying them off, the renowned author, who at one time visited the White House to advise the National Economic Council on the future of banking, said many banks would choose to hire fresh talent.

"If you are in a branch as a teller today, you have every reason to be worried. It is going to be cheaper and faster to bring in new staff than retrain unless the Government steps in to fund the retraining," said King.

Retraining may be an expensive option, and larger banks such as Standard Bank in South Africa may choose to take their staff to university. The large capital outlay may not be matched by smaller banks.

A switch to technology-based banking is expected to boost the return on investment for banks. For instance, heavily automated firms like Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple generate about $500,000 (Sh52 million) per employee every year.

This compares 10 times better than the best banks in the US such as Chase Bank, Citibank and Bank of America where employees generate only about $50,000 (Sh5.2 million).