How To Become a Bank Manager: A Complete Guide

Updated 16 March 2023

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Banking can be a rewarding career for those interested in finance, numbers and management. Most bank managers have strong customer service skills and in-depth knowledge of banking operations and financial strategy development. Learning more about this profession can help you decide if this career path is suitable for you. In this article, we will discuss how to become a bank manager, what these professionals do, how much they earn and what skills and qualifications they do excel in this career.

What is a bank manager?

A bank manager oversees a particular branch of a bank, leads its employees and looks after its day-to-day operations. They manage the banking team, work to increase sales and ensure excellent customer service. They are also responsible for hiring and training new employees, consulting with customers, assessing employee performance rates and connecting with the local community to attract customers. These professionals may also need to review loan applications and make important decisions on money lending.

Some bank managers work for insurance companies, brokerage firms and consultancies. Their education and specific set of hard and soft skills are extremely valuable in the financial industry, often leading to pay raises and opportunities to advance their professional career.

How to become a bank manager

Here are a few steps you should follow if you want to become a bank manager:

1. Get a basic education

To become a bank manager, you at least need to have a bachelor's degree in finance or a related subject. For instance, you can earn a Bachelors of Commerce (B.Com) or Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) degree. To get admission in these courses, you need to clear the 12th standard with a minimum of 50% marks from a recognised school board like C.B.S.E. You can complete your 12th grade in any stream, such as arts, science or commerce.

2. Gain experience in banking

After earning your bachelor's degree, you can take an entry-level banking job and gain relevant experience to eventually get promoted to a bank manager position. Banking jobs are available in both private and public sector banks. The recruitment process in these two sectors is entirely different. To get into the public banking sector, you need to sit recruitment exams conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). Upon clearing this exam, you can get a bank job as a probationary officer (PO), specialist officer or clerk.

Many private and public sector banks consider your IBPS score when hiring for open positions at their banks. After at least three years of relevant experience, you can become a bank manager.

3. Get a master's degree

Another route to become a bank manager is by completing a master's degree in finance or business administration from a reputed college. Some banks, mostly private banks, have tie-ups with these colleges. They often conduct campus interviews to select candidates for bank manager positions directly from the country's top colleges.

How long does it take to become a bank manager?

You may need at least five or six years after your 10+2 to become a bank manager. A bachelor's degree course takes you three or four years. After completing your bachelor's degree, you can prepare for banking exams. Depending on your skills, it may take you one or two years after your graduation to clear a banking exam. This secures a banking job for you. But you may need another three years to get promoted to the position of a bank manager from within the company. If you choose to take the post-graduation route, you need to spend two years after your graduation for a master's degree. After that, you can directly apply for a bank manager's post.

Which subjects are best for bank managers

If your goal is to become a bank manager, consider choosing the right subjects after your 10th standard in school. This helps you build a sound foundation for banking jobs. Here are some examples of subjects you can study at different educational levels:

Higher secondary education: after your 10th grade in school, you can opt for the commerce stream where you study the basics of accounting, finance and economics. Another subject you should select is mathematics where you study number series, probability, time and work, data interpretation, permutation and combination. Studying subjects like this helps improve your quantitative skills.
Competitive exams: to enter the banking field, you typically need to clear a competitive exam that tests your basic computer skills, general knowledge and quantitative skills. So study these subjects as well.
Graduation: while pursuing your bachelor's degree, you will study subjects like financial systems, taxation, accountancy, business management, cost accounting, company law and many more.
Post-graduation: it is advisable to pursue an MBA in finance or banking to become a bank manager. There you will study all the finance-related subjects in more detail and with lots of case studies.

What is the starting salary of a bank manager?

The average base salary of a bank manager is ₹5,55,525 per year. There can be other components above the base salary of the bank manager, which together form their annual earnings. If you are a bank manager in a government bank, you will also get other benefits like leave travel allowance (LTA), government residential house till you are on the job, dearness allowance (DA) and many more above your annual salary.

What are bank manager skills?

Bank managers should have both technical and social skills to perform their duties well. Here is a list of a few important skills to be a bank manager:

Leadership skills: bank managers should have strong leadership skills as they need to motivate employees to meet their sales goals, oversee day-to-day operations and communicate expectations.
Communication skills: you would need to communicate with your higher management, employees and customers. The information to share with others can be sensitive and critical, where misinterpretation can lead to issues. Thus, you should be strong in both verbal and written communication skills to pass or convey the information clearly.
Customer service: as a bank manager, you would need customer service skills to understand and meet client needs, achieve sales goals and provide a good banking experience to customers so that they return in the future.
Problem-solving skills: you need to oversee the operations of an entire branch of employees., Thus, you should have strong problem-solving skills to address their concerns, conflicts and should be able to resolve them.
Interpersonal skills: you would need to communicate branch rules, evaluate the performance of the employees, train new employees and set expectations for employees. You need to have strong interpersonal skills to perform these activities efficiently.
Organisational skills: you need exceptional organisational skills to keep track of sales records, customer contacts and meetings, long-term and short-term goals of the branch.
Data analysis: bank managers regularly evaluate their branch's performance rates by collecting and analysing sales data. This requires mathematical abilities and critical thinking, as bank managers use data to develop strategies and communicate goals and expectations.
Negotiation skills: strong negotiation skills help you upsell any banking products and services to customers. This eventually helps generate more revenues for the bank.

Bank manager's responsibilities and duties

Bank managers have a lot of duties to perform to keep the bank operations running smoothly. Here are a few job duties for a bank manager:

Hire and train new employees
Attend meetings with customers to address their concerns, solve the problems and provide answers to their queries
Develop strategies to achieve the sales goals
Continuously work to improve the customer satisfaction level
Manage employees under them and assist them with their day-to-day activities
Inculcate teamwork amongst the employees
Establish and maintain relationships with the new and existing customers and local community organisations
Perform administrative tasks like maintaining banking database
Sell products and services to individual customers and businesses
Educate employees and customers about financial activities
Prepare annual operational and expenditure budgets

Related job titles

There are a lot of job opportunities which you can explore if interested in banking. Here are a few job titles you can search for which are related to bank management:

Investment banker
Benefits specialists
Financial advisor
Actuary
Wealth manager
Insurance underwriter
Loan processor
Data analyst
Financial planner
Financial auditor
Mortgage broker
Insurance claims adjuster
Bank teller
Credit analyst
Investment representative
Investment banking analyst
Collection agent

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Salary figures reflect data listed on Indeed Salaries at time of writing. Salaries may vary depending on the hiring organisation and a candidate's experience, academic background and location.