Work in a bank has always been considered prestigious and highly paid. In the personnel departments of banking institutions, a queue of job seekers is constantly lined up. But is the work of a bank employee highly valued? Let's find out how much Russian specialists of these institutions really earn in the bank and how much their foreign colleagues receive as wages.

The essence of the work

First, let's find out what the essence of the work of bank employees is and what categories they are divided into.

In a broad sense, the term "bank employee" covers a very wide range of people, from the cleaner of a financial institution to the general director. Conventionally, all bank employees can be divided into the following categories:

• bank management;
• middle management personnel;
• personnel working with clients (cashiers, loan officers, consultants, etc.);
• security service;
• technical staff (cleaners).

In our review, first of all, we will talk about the income of personnel who work directly with clients and middle managers. Indeed, for most people, the expression "bank employee" is associated with them.

And it's not in vain. It is on the shoulders of these specialists that the main work falls: they communicate with clients, open cases, in most cases make decisions on lending to a particular person. Of course, if the loan amount exceeds a certain limit, then the central management of the bank is involved in the decision to issue a loan, but this does not happen too often.

The primary task of bank employees is to ensure its functioning, which implies the following tasks:

• issuance of loans;
• acceptance of deposits;
• management of clients' current accounts;
• transfer of funds;
• currency exchange;
• opening a client's case;
• bank guarantee;
• other banking transactions.

Naturally, to perform these tasks and conduct the affairs of the bank, individual specialists who have an economic or financial education are required.

Salary in Russia

Now let's find out how much the staff of banks in Russia receives. The average salary in a Russian bank is about 35,000 rubles, which is slightly more than the average income of the population in the country. Although if we take into account the earnings of senior managers and top managers, then the average income of employees of the banking sector will increase significantly and reach 56.5 thousand rubles. This is due to the extremely high salaries of this category of employees, although the bulk of the bank's employees receive several times less, in the range of 25-40 thousand rubles.

What, then, caused such a stir about working in banking structures, if, as it turns out, the average salary there is not at all astronomical?

The fact is that in these structures there are excellent conditions for career growth. For example, a young specialist after graduation, having started working on a minimum salary of 15,000 rubles a month, with certain qualities and diligence, may well rise to high positions in the bank's management. He can increase his earnings to hundreds of thousands, and possibly millions, of rubles a month. For many employees, not only the financial aspect is important, but also the possibility of self-expression.

However, even if an employee does not rise to senior management positions, which, in fact, is not so easy, he is quite capable of climbing the career ladder to not very significant, but well-paid posts. Let's take a look at the salaries of bank employees depending on their position. The average indicators of the monthly salary of employees of banking structures in Russia are shown in the table below.

As you can see, the highest salaries among bank employees directly involved in customer service are specialists of the corporate department. This department is engaged in work with firms and organizations that are regular customers of the bank. They are not necessarily credited, but may have current accounts in this banking institution or a salary project.

salary abroad

Now let's find out how things are with the remuneration of bank employees in foreign countries.

The average salary in a German bank is 3-4 thousand euros per month. This amount significantly exceeds the average income of the population in the country. About 4500 dollars are earned by their colleagues from the USA. But the highest salary for bank employees is, of course, in a country that is associated precisely with banking - in Switzerland. There, a bank employee on average receives about 9,823 Swiss francs per month, which is equivalent to 9,876 dollars or 9,082 euros.

Comparison of salaries

As you can see, employees from Switzerland have the highest level of income among bank employees. The staff of banks in other countries of Western Europe and in the USA also make good money. But the salaries of Russian bank employees are much lower. Even if we take the average salary of Russian personnel, taking into account the income of top managers, then its value is only 56.5 thousand rubles, or $887, which is more than 11 times less than the income of Swiss colleagues.

At the same time, against the background of the average income of Russians, the earnings of domestic bank employees look pretty good, and the level of salaries of top managers is frankly impressive.

One of the prestigious and fashionable professions of our time, both among males and females, is a specialty related to the banking sector. Without this sector of the economy, many cannot imagine their lives, especially residents of developed countries. This is due to the fact that even if we do not store savings in a bank, we use their services to conduct any monetary transactions. In this article, I propose to understand: “Banking, what kind of profession is this?”, Features of the specialty, development prospects, wages and places of employment after training.

Description of the profession

The origins of the banking profession date back to ancient times. It is believed that the ancestor of this specialization is Babylon, where people were actively engaged in usury. And the formation and development of banking relations actively took place on the territory of ancient Greece. Here there was a special layer of society - refectory ( or money changers) - who, under certain conditions, carried out the storage or exchange of finances. It should be noted that for the first time settlement and cash services were essential precisely in Ancient Greece.

With the advent of banks, which are intermediaries in the implementation of financial transactions, moneylenders and diners are a thing of the past, and they were replaced by bank employees - bankers, who gave impetus to the development of the specialty "banking".

A banker is the owner of bank capital, as well as managers who take part in the banking business. The list of duties of such a specialist depends on the position held, but there is a general list consisting of:

• Monitoring the implementation of agreements between the bank and the client;
• Analysis of the creditworthiness of a potential borrower;
• Maintaining cash registers and forecasting the turnover of monetary assets;
• Maintaining a file of documents;
• Execution of transactions in the lending market;
• Formation of account statements;
• Registration of payment cards.

It is customary to single out the main types of positions in this industry. These include: banking specialist, financier, financial analyst, investment advisor, financial controller and loan officer.

A profession related to credit and financial structures must be chosen by people who have the following set of personal qualities:

• Analytic mind;
• Purposefulness;
• Stress tolerance;
• Responsibility and scrupulousness;
• Fast learner;
• Good memory;
• Ability to interact with people;
• Hard work and perseverance.

With these qualities, you can achieve great success in banking.

The following requirements are imposed on employees of the credit and financial sector:

1. Have an understanding of accounting;
2. Understand the essence of the movement of financial flows, and be able to carry out financial transactions;
3. Be able to communicate and find an individual approach to each client;
4. Have skills in psychology, to understand, in the process of conducting a conversation with a potential client, the level of his solvency;
5. Be good psychologists in order to be able to determine the solvency of the client in the process of communication;
6. Have knowledge of credit transactions;
7. To carry out extracts from personal accounts of the client;
8. To be able to provide consulting services on financial matters and lending;
9. Know the features of the preparation of bank documentation;
10. Be proficient in a foreign language;
11. Be able to analyze the financial condition and, based on the information received, make a forecast, etc.

The Importance of Banking

The economy of any modern state cannot do without the functioning of the banking sector. It acts as an effective tool in the development of any market relations, ensuring the safety and increasing the savings of the population, and providing loans.

A well-structured policy of organization, management and development of banking activity allows:

• Effectively manage clients' assets and liabilities;
• Provide savings, lending, investment services;
• Carry out currency exchange transactions, cashless payments, etc.

Thus, the quality of the functioning of the banking sector has an impact on the development of the state economy, which in turn requires the availability of qualified specialists in this industry.

Where Can a Banker Work?

The main activity of bankers is the implementation of lending. However, their range of job searches by specialization is not limited to banks. This is due to the fact that the functioning of an organization related to the management of financial flows implies the obligatory presence of a banker in the staff. That is why there are a number of the following institutions where there is a need for such workers:

• various financial institutions;
• departments of financial planning;
• departments of investment design;
• department of securities;
• exchange organizations;
• credit organizations;
• insurance companies, etc.

Pros and cons of banking

Considering banking from the point of view of positive and negative sides, it is worth noting that the profession has more advantages than disadvantages.

The benefits of this profession include:

1. Demand in the labor market in all regions of the country, due to the development of the banking sector;
2. High profit payment;
3. Low entry barrier;
4. The presence in some institutions of additional cash incentives for the work performed;
5. Opportunity for career growth that does not require a long time investment, compared to other professions;
6. The prestige of the field of activity;
7. Decent working conditions;
8. In some cases, health insurance for employees is provided.

As for the shortcomings of this profession, here we can distinguish:

1. High financial responsibility;
2. Irregular work schedule;
3. At the initial stages of building a career, low wages and monotony of work.

Where to study banking

Work in this field of activity requires the presence of economic education. Candidates for a position in banking institutions must receive education in one of the following areas, such as:

• 80108 "Banking";
• 80105 "Finance and Credit".

Obtaining an appropriate profile is not limited to two areas, it is necessary to pay attention to narrower educational programs:

• "Banking Manager";
• "Finance of the production and banking sectors of the economy";
• "Banking and risk management";
• "Money, banks, financial markets".

Appropriate education can be obtained both after grade 9 (college, school), and after grade 11 (university). To enter Russian universities in these areas of study, an applicant must pass exams in the following subjects:

• Maths;
• Russian language;
• Social studies / foreign language.

Below are the country's leading institutions that train in-demand banking professionals.

Colleges (total 153 in the Russian Federation, the term of study is 2 years 10 months):

1. College "RANEPA under the President of the Russian Federation";
2. College of Moscow State University;
3. Perm Financial and Economic College of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

Higher educational institutions (total 288 in the Russian Federation, the term of study for a bachelor's degree is 4 years, for a master's degree - 2 years):

1. Moscow State University of International Relations;
2. Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation;
3. National Research University Higher School of Economics;
4. Russian Economic University. G. V. Plekhanov.
5. RANEPA under the President of the Russian Federation;
6. MGIMO MFA of Russia;
7. Leningrad State University named after A. S. Pushkin;
8. Moscow State Technical University named after N. E. Bauman.

The passing score, depending on the region in which the university is located and its prestige, for the direction of "Banking" is an average of 65 points. The cost of education in the country ranges from 40-350 thousand rubles / year.

Wage

The salary of a banking specialist, according to the employment center, is:

• Minimum - 16.8 thousand rubles.
• Average - 46 thousand rubles.
• Maximum - 300 thousand rubles.

It should be noted that the average salary of a bank employee is slightly higher than the average income level of the population of Russia. But if we take into account the level of income of the management sector, then this figure will increase significantly. This is due to the significant difference between ordinary workers and managers.

The average salary for positions in financial institutions is shown in the chart below:

Comparing the incomes of Russian and foreign bankers, it is worth noting that Russians receive several times less than their foreign counterparts. But despite this, the banking community occupies a leading position in terms of earnings in the Russian Federation. The remuneration of employees in this area depends on the position held, work experience, the level of the bank and the education of the employee.

Career

After receiving a special education, graduates often start their careers in low-paid positions: clerk, accounting assistant or customer service employee.

However, the prospect of career growth in this area allows, with the appropriate level of education, special skills and special personal qualities, a young specialist will quickly advance up the career ladder. For example, it is possible to become a middle manager in a short period of time (about one year).

Also with regard to career growth, in order to occupy a higher position or improve their own skills, employees attend all kinds of trainings, seminars, webinars and courses. Sometimes, organizations themselves send an employee to such trainings or invite specialists and conduct group classes to improve the professional qualities of company employees. Continuous development and improvement of professional qualities will help to achieve high results in moving up the career ladder. Where the top will be the position of the head of a department or branch, deputy head, director of a banking institution.

Among the specialties that have been gaining popularity in recent decades, banking has a strong position.

This is natural, because in Russia constantly growing number of banks and various financial institutions that provide services demanded by the population and organizations.

History of the profession

It can be said that banking one of the oldest professions, because even when banks in their usual form did not yet exist, for example, in Babylon seven hundred years before our era, there were townspeople actively involved in usury.

Then there were analogues of modern bank notes, valued in gold.

Also, the rudiments of banking can be observed in ancient Greek society, where there was a separate layer of trapezes engaged in the exchange of funds and their storage, of course, under a certain percentage.

We owe to ancient Greece the appearance of settlement and cash services, which was expressed in the receipt and debiting of client funds on special accounts. And many temple complexes provided such a service as loans, because they had substantial amounts in storage, which they tried to increase.

What is the profession?

Today, qualified specialists in this field can easily get a job in various institutions - financial, investment, credit, and they are also in demand on the securities exchange. Insurance companies and planning divisions of enterprises will not refuse such professionals.

Graduates of universities who have received diplomas in the specialty of banking prefer to get jobs at enterprises to the departments of investments, securities. The stock, economic and accounting departments are also considered prestigious. Therefore, such a specialist will definitely not remain unemployed.

Depending on the chosen place of work and the profile of the organization, the range of duties of a specialist may vary.

For example, in lending departments, he will probably have to accept applications for loans, analyze the client's solvency, evaluate collateral, monitor the use of credit funds, and monitor the safety of collateral. To put it simply, it is his responsibility to ensure the security of the transaction.

Where to get an education?

In order to work subsequently in organizations dealing with finance, it is necessary to have an education in the specialty "Economics", ideally, become a master in the specialty "Finance and credit". It is possible in the process of learning to decide on the desired direction of activity - accounting and operational or financial and credit.

Many universities in Russia offer such education, but employers highly valued diplomas from such universities: State University of Management, Russian Academy of National Economy and Higher School of Economics.

What do specialists who have completed the course "Banking" do?

The range of responsibilities of professionals in this field is quite wide. It all depends on the requirements put forward by the management of the company, the specifics of the work. But most common duties, which can be called common to all are as follows:

• the specialist checks how the client adheres to the actions specified in the contract;
• analyzes the credit capabilities of the borrower and his ability to repay the loan;
• calculates the cash balance and predicts cash turnover;
• maintains a file of documents;
• conducts operations in the lending market;
• draws up account statements;
• issues various payment cards.

This list can be continued, but in general it reflects the essence of the specialist's activity.

What qualities should a specialist have?

This profession, as a rule, should be chosen by people with an analytical mindset and abilities for mathematical analysis. Such a person should be able painstakingly systematize received data. It is very important to be able to focus on the details.

Bankers are easily given economic disciplines, they have a tenacious memory that allows them to perform the most complex operations.

Salary and career

Such qualified specialists are in demand in any organization that makes mutual settlements. However, salaries differ significantly depending on the region and locality, the level and specifics of the organization.

Bankers share for top, middle and lower level employees and hence their earnings vary. As a rule, the minimum wage in this area is not less than four hundred dollars, but by showing yourself well, you can significantly increase your income.

To climb the career ladder in this field of activity, you need to take the initiative, improve yourself and prove yourself well. This profession will always be needed, because settlement operations are unlikely to ever disappear as unnecessary.

Are downsizing and salary increases in Russian banks compatible? Does "expensive" management provide high profits? Is it prestigious to work in the banking sector?

Whose salaries did we count

The information and analytical service of the Banki.ru portal found out the average salaries of bank personnel and compiled ratings of banks in terms of average monthly wages and the number of employees in the first half of 2018.

The ratings were based on quarterly reports of securities issuers and/or explanatory information to interim accounting (financial) statements, which served as sources of information on the average number of employees and the share of employees with higher education. For Novikombank, the source of information on the headcount was IFRS statements for the first half of 2018.

To calculate the average salary, we used the data on personnel labor costs presented in the quarterly profit and loss statement of the credit institution in the form 0409102 posted on the website of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The average salary was determined as the result of dividing the salary costs for a certain period by the number of months and by the number of employees in the selected period.

How much does a banking specialist cost

It seems that even the older generation of Russians has ceased to call all bank employees bankers and automatically consider that life is good if you get a job at a bank. Of course, the pay for different specialties, even without taking into account managerial positions, can differ by a factor of two or more.

Rosstat calculated that the average monthly accrued nominal salary in the field of finance and insurance amounted to 83,103 rubles in June 2018. This is about twice the average salary in Russia.

According to the Superjob Research Center, among the ten observed positions in the banking sector, the highest paid on average is the position of chief or leading specialist in the market risk department, and the lowest of the average salaries is for cashiers-operators. In addition, this is the only position, the average salary for which was declining at the beginning of 2018.

It is obvious that wages in the above positions do not keep pace with inflation, but this is true not only for the banking sector and. Economists' studies show that the main problem of stagnating wages is high inflation, which "eats" nominally rising wages.

If we compare the salaries of bank employees and workers in other areas, we can say that in the construction sector, the salaries of specialists over the analyzed period grew more significantly, as well as in the IT sector, as well as in the advertising business.

The maximum level of the average salary of ten construction specialties is for technical supervision engineers: 76 thousand rubles. In the IT field, an Internet project manager can expect a similar average salary, and technical support specialists are on average offered a salary slightly lower than that of a foreign exchange specialist. The position of a programmer or developer in terms of salary will already be significantly higher than both a financial analyst and a risk manager in a bank.

State banks or foreign banks - who pays more?

In total, in the first half of the year, Russian banks spent 485 billion rubles on their employees, including salaries, bonuses, training and other expenses. And this amount is quite insignificant in the total amount of expenses.

Among the 20 banks in the rating of the information and analytical service of the Banki.ru portal in terms of average monthly wages in the first half of 2018, there were six “foreigners” and seven banks controlled by state structures or state corporations.

He headed the top five in terms of average salary, like ING Bank (415.7 thousand rubles with an increase of 2.5% over the year). The second and fifth places were also occupied by representatives of foreign financial structures - Nordea Bank (376.5 thousand rubles with an increase of more than a quarter over the year) and Citibank (144.6 thousand with a decrease by 20.2% over the year). And the third and fourth places went to the banks of the largest commodity corporations controlled by the state - Gazprombank (221.8 thousand rubles) and RRDB (150.8 thousand rubles). It should be noted that ING Bank and Nordea Bank practically do not work in the retail segment, and the number of employees of these banks (271 and 416, respectively) is even inferior to the rest of the rating participants in total, with the exception of JSCB Peresvet (100% owned by RRDB), in with 291 employees.

The lowest average wages in the first half of 2018 - below 65 thousand rubles - were shown by five credit institutions out of 50 analyzed: Post Bank and UBRD (48.8 thousand rubles each), Moscow Industrial Bank (53.9 thousand rubles) , HKF Bank (60.5 thousand rubles) and Ak Bars (63 thousand rubles). Such indicators for retail Post Bank and HCF Bank can be explained by the retail business orientation and a large proportion of specialists working "in the field", directly with borrowers and having low salaries. In addition, the number of employees of Post Bank for 12 months increased by 5 thousand people (more than 40%), and the average salary decreased from 56.5 thousand to 48.8 thousand rubles. The level of wages of employees of UBRD and Ak Bars is affected by their regional registration: outside of Moscow, the income of the population, as a rule, is lower than in the capital.

In terms of the growth of the average monthly salary, if we compare the first half of the current year and 2017, Zenit Bank is in first place, the average salary in which increased by 42.6%, or by 34.7 thousand rubles. In this case, among the reasons can be called a reduction in the number of personnel, albeit less than 6%, or 122 people. The second place in terms of average salary growth was occupied by Peresvet Bank (+39.4%, or +40.7 thousand rubles), which reduced the staff by 11% in 12 months. Since 2017, the sole shareholder of Peresvet has been RRDB, which overtook its subsidiary in terms of average wages.

Rounding out the top five growth leaders in average wages are MTS Bank (+28.7%, or +18.8 thousand rubles), Nordea Bank (+25.7%, or +76.9 thousand rubles) and Gazprombank (+20. 7%, or +38 thousand rubles). MTS Bank and Nordea Bank significantly reduced the number of employees compared to the data for the first half of 2017 - by 28.6% and 38.2%, respectively, the staff of Gazprombank over the same period increased by 4.7%, or 559 people.

The average salary at VTB fell by 21.6% - this is the largest decline among the top 50 banks by assets. The accession of the subsidiary VTB 24 and the corresponding increase in staff by 157%, or by 29.2 thousand people, affected. More moderate negative dynamics was shown by Citibank (-20.2%), UBRD (-18.1%), Post Bank (-13.8%) and FC Otkritie bank (-12.1%), as well as Binbank ( -8.0%), Vostochny Bank (-7.2%) and Trust Bank (-4.7%).

Sberbank has twice as many employees as the rest of the top 5 banks combined

Among the top 50 banks by assets, the top five with the largest average number of employees in the first half of 2018 were Sberbank (243,958 people), VTB (47,870 people), Rosselkhozbank (26,302 people), Alfa-Bank (24,503 people) and Post Bank (16,732 people). The ranking in the top five has not changed over 12 months, and the number of employees was reduced only by Sberbank (by 6,009 people, or 2.4%) and the RSHB (by 725 people, or 2.7%).

ING Bank has the smallest number of employees, which leads the rating in terms of average salary. In addition, 99.7% of the employees of this bank have higher education. Not all banks disclose this value, but for comparison: Zenit Bank has 94.2% of its staff with higher education, Gazprombank - 88.6%, UniCredit Bank and Raiffeisenbank - more than 87% each, and Moscow Credit Bank only 62%. It is worth noting the growth of employees with higher education in FC Otkritie for 12 months - from 69.7% to 81.4% with a reduction in staff by 7.1%, or by 1,077 people.

Another four of the 50 largest (and disclosing) banks have less than 1,000 employees - these are Peresvet (291 people), Nordea Bank (416 people), Novikombank (763 people) and DeltaCredit (874 people).

Ordinary inhabitants invariably associate work in the banking sector with high wages. However, this view is only partially correct. The thing is that a banker is a very wide circle of workers occupying a variety of positions. Accordingly, the salary level, for example, of a top manager and a head of a credit department can differ significantly.

Features of the profession

Generally speaking, a banker is a general line of work. The range of duties assigned to a specialist depends on the scale of the company in which he works, as well as on the position he holds. Typically, the work here is as follows:

• servicing clients of a financial institution;
• collection of statistical data and development of options for their improvement;
• forecasting;
• counseling;
• analysis of various information with subsequent decision-making;
• management of subordinate employees.

In order to succeed, a banker must have a certain set of personal qualities, such as the ability to quickly make the right decisions, initiative, communication skills, a constant desire to improve their own professional level, attentiveness, purposefulness, and so on. An important aspect is discipline, as well as the precise fulfillment of all the instructions of the management and the tasks assigned to the employee.

An analytical mind and constant composure are welcome. Given that you have to deal with money, the banking business does not tolerate dishonest employees, so employers pay special attention to such a moment as decency and honesty.

banker salary

Now let's talk about the pay of employees in the banking sector. The spread here is more than wide, since the variety of possible positions is very large. At the lowest rung here are ordinary clerks. As a rule, their salary is 65 thousand rubles. This, of course, is an average figure, but in this case, the difference, depending on the financial institution, will not be too large. However, do not forget that this is only the very first, initial step. Salaries of top managers are measured by completely different figures - we are talking about a difference of several orders of magnitude.

For example, the salary of the chairman of the board of a bank today is from 500 thousand to 7 million rubles. The work of his deputy is also very well paid. On the one hand, the salary in this position is about 2 times less than that of the head, but 2 points must be taken into account. Firstly, figures from 200 thousand to 3 million rubles a month are more than a decent salary, and there are also various bonuses. Secondly, the level of responsibility of the deputy is always lower than that of the boss.

A solid salary today and the managing director of an investment bank. The amount of remuneration for this position ranges from 500 thousand to 6 million rubles. The heads of the trade department also earn very well. With a minimum salary for this position of 100 thousand rubles, which is quite good for the Russian Federation, up to 4 million rubles. Such a wide range is due to the presence of a number of additional determining factors.

Here are some more official statistics. In particular, the level of the average salary in Gazprombank is 174 thousand rubles. VTB is in second place in this indicator. In this financial institution, the average salary is 156 thousand rubles. Well, the Bank of Moscow closes the top three leaders in terms of average wages in the banking sector. On average, its employees receive 129 thousand rubles a month. Unicredit Bank (121 thousand rubles) is also in the top five. In fifth place was the Russian Federation "Alfa-Bank" with an average salary of employees of 98 thousand rubles.

Most in-demand jobs in banking

I would like to pay closer attention to one more point. Currently, the most demanded positions in the banking sector of the Russian Federation are cashiers, accountants, visitor managers, as well as financial analysts. At the same time, the higher the level of remuneration, the more requirements are placed on the applicant for a particular vacancy. Among the top management of Russian banks, one can often meet the children of influential Russian officials - the most striking example here is Dmitry Patrushev, son of the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Previously, he worked at VTB, and later moved to Rosselkhozbank, becoming the chairman of the board of this financial institution.

Mostly, employers make it a prerequisite for applicants for a particular position to have a higher economic education. A clerk can be hired without work experience. As a rule, "people from the street" are not suitable for higher and more responsible positions. The employer can be understood - he needs a result here and now. Therefore, preference is given to either experienced employees from the outside, or an internal reserve. It is probably not even necessary to talk about such a moment as confident possession of a PC. The banking sector today is high-tech, and computer skills are a must, even for a clerk.