Retail Banking

Serve customers and help them meet their daily financial needs.

Retail banks provide consumers with a variety of financial products and services that range from bank and savings accounts, mortgages, loans, personal credit products and remittance services.

Some retail banks even offer services such as stock brokerage, insurance, wealth management and private banking – although these are usually delivered through another division or an affiliate of the bank. As such, while most cases follow a regular 9-to-5 shift, certain roles may require hopefuls to pick up graveyard or weekend shifts.

However, with the finance industry rapidly adopting financial technology (fintech) innovations and solutions, it has become necessary for retail banks to continuously adapt their services and facilities in order to better serve their customers, including rethinking features such as mobile banking services, online security measures, new products and collaborations, as well as customer service.

Like many sectors of the finance industry, the retail banking field is regulated by MAS.

General overview

There are diverse opportunities for graduates, ranging from risk management and compliance to marketing and IT. Many major banks run specialised graduate programmes to recruit potential candidates to their function of choice, and management associate programmes are especially popular.

Many graduate programmes are rotational in nature and span a total of two years, giving new hires the opportunity to experience different areas of work within the department to gain an understanding of the organisation’s business as a whole.

Besides learning on-the-job and through formal training programmes, graduates may also be attached to a mentor to guide them along their various responsibilities as they move from one department to another. Assignment to a role most suitable to an individual is usually done upon graduation from the programme.

Depending on the company’s programme, graduates may be put in charge of managing small-scale projects, be involved in creating new products and services, provide technical support to colleagues or other divisions, or even handle customers on the ground.

Due to the sheer variety of products offered by each bank, career paths can be very diverse. For instance, career advancement can take place vertically – where hopefuls climb up the corporate ladder to take on managerial positions – or horizontally, where transitions from managing products such as mortgages and personal loans to a different division, such as private banking, are typical.

Graduates can also consider obtaining professional diplomas or other qualifications to boost their career progression. Otherwise, mentors can be consulted for ideas on how career development can take place.

Required skills

Employers generally welcome graduates from any academic background unless the position requires specific technical skills. So, to be a standout applicant in this highly competitive sector, focus on developing soft skills, in particular project management, teamworking, communication and interpersonal skills.

Good customer-facing skills are also tremendously important as most job scopes revolve around assisting customers with their queries. Aside from that, having excellent organisational and management skills will also stand hopefuls in good stead, as well as retail awareness.

Pros and cons

Retail banking is fast-paced, exciting and offers a relatively good worklife balance. In addition, excellent benefits such as lucrative year-end and additional bonuses on top of varied growth opportunities make working in this sector extremely attractive.

However, be aware that this field can also be relatively stressful during crunch time, such as the launch of a new product. The working environment is quite structured as well, with plenty of red tape in place.