Will tellers be replaced by AI?
Updated
Tellers score 53 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 48%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 35% outright, and 17% stays with people.
- 35% AI can do it
- 48% AI helps
- 17% Needs a person
High exposure
Higher than 81% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 28 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 12 of them today, speeds up 12 and leaves 4 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Compute financial fees, interest, and service charges. Fee, interest, and service charge calculation is pure computation. | 85% AI can do it |
| Quote unit exchange rates, following daily international rate sheets or computer displays. Exchange rate quotes are lookups from rate sheets or displays. | 78% AI can do it |
| Compose, type, and mail customer statements and other correspondence related to issues such as discrepancies and outstanding unpaid items. Drafting customer statements and letters is routine writing AI does well. | 72% AI can do it |
| Perform clerical tasks, such as typing, filing, and microfilm photography. Typing and filing are digital clerical work AI handles well. | 70% AI can do it |
| Enter customers' transactions into computers to record transactions and issue computer-generated receipts. Routine digital transaction entry, largely handled by software. | 68% AI can do it |
| Process and maintain records of customer loans. Loan record maintenance is routine data processing in systems. | 68% AI can do it |
| Identify transaction mistakes when debits and credits do not balance. Locating debit and credit imbalances is pattern work software does well. | 65% AI can do it |
| Prepare and verify cashier's checks. System-generated cashier's checks with verification a person reviews. | 62% AI can do it |
| Answer telephones and assist customers with their questions. Voice and chat agents now handle many routine customer phone questions. | 62% AI can do it |
| Obtain and process information required for the provision of services, such as opening accounts, savings plans, and purchasing bonds. Account and savings forms can be extracted and processed digitally. | 62% AI can do it |
Show the other 18 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Issue checks to bond owners in settlement of transactions. Bond settlement checks are system-generated, with a person approving. | 62% AI can do it |
| Order a supply of cash to meet daily needs. Cash ordering follows forecasts a system can generate; person approves. | 60% AI can do it |
| Process transactions, such as term deposits, retirement savings plan contributions, automated teller transactions, night deposits, and mail deposits. Most processing is digital, but night and mail deposits need handling. | 58% AI helps |
| Inform customers about foreign currency regulations and compute transaction fees for currency exchanges. Fee math is automatable; regulatory advice needs accountable staff. | 58% AI helps |
| Examine checks for endorsements and to verify other information, such as dates, bank names, identification of the persons receiving payments, and the legality of the documents. Document and endorsement checks suit AI vision, but fraud calls need people. | 55% AI helps |
| Carry out special services for customers, such as ordering bank cards and checks. Card and check orders are digital, but in-person service remains. | 55% AI helps |
| Receive mortgage, loan, or public utility bill payments, verifying payment dates and amounts due. Payment date and amount checks are automatable; in-person payments need handling. | 55% AI helps |
| Explain, promote, or sell products or services, such as travelers' checks, savings bonds, money orders, and cashier's checks, using computerized information about customers to tailor recommendations. Recommendations and copy can be AI-tailored, but selling needs a person. | 50% AI helps |
| Receive checks and cash for deposit, verify amounts, and check accuracy of deposit slips. Cash handling is physical; amount and slip checks are automatable. | 45% AI helps |
| Balance currency, coin, and checks in cash drawers at ends of shifts and calculate daily transactions, using computers, calculators, or adding machines. Cash counting is physical; reconciliation math is software-automatable. | 40% AI helps |
| Cash checks and pay out money after verifying that signatures are correct, that written and numerical amounts agree, and that accounts have sufficient funds. Signature and funds checks assisted by software; cash payout is physical. | 35% AI helps |
| Resolve problems or discrepancies concerning customers' accounts. Discrepancy research is automatable, but resolution needs customer judgement. | 35% AI helps |
| Sort and file deposit slips and checks. Physical sorting of slips and checks; imaging could replace filing. | 28% AI helps |
| Count, verify, and post armored car deposits. Armored deposit counting is physical; posting is digital. | 28% AI helps |
| Monitor bank vaults to ensure cash balances are correct. Vault oversight needs physical presence and security accountability. | 15% Needs a person |
| Count currency, coins, and checks received, by hand or using currency-counting machine, to prepare them for deposit or shipment to branch banks or the Federal Reserve Bank. Physical counting of cash and checks manually or machine. | 15% Needs a person |
| Receive and count daily inventories of cash, drafts, and travelers' checks. Receiving and counting physical cash, drafts, and travelers checks. | 12% Needs a person |
| Arrange monies received in cash boxes and coin dispensers according to denomination. Physically arranging cash by denomination in boxes and dispensers. | 5% Needs a person |
How tellers compare
All occupations (923)
Office and administrative support (51)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $43,030 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 329,480 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- -13.2% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Count currency and checks on a currency-counting machine
- Post armored car deposits in Microsoft Dynamics
- Balance teller drawers and reconcile differences in Microsoft Excel
- Write discrepancy letters to customers in Microsoft Word
- Handle vault cash balances and security checks in person
- Arrange cash by denomination in boxes and coin dispensers
Safer roles nearby
4 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about tellers and AI
Will AI replace tellers?
Partly. About 5 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly fee, interest, and service charge calculation and exchange rate quotes. Cash handling stays with tellers because counting currency, checks, and vault balances needs a person physically present.
Which teller tasks is AI taking over?
Fee, interest, and service charge calculation scores 85 on exposure, the highest of any teller task, because it is pure computation. Exchange rate quotes score 78 since they are lookups from rate sheets or displays. Customer statements and correspondence score 72 because routine drafting is writing AI does well.
Which teller tasks stay human?
Arranging cash by denomination scores 5 on exposure, and receiving and counting cash, drafts, and travelers checks scores 12. Vault monitoring scores 15 because it needs physical presence and security accountability. These tasks stay with tellers since they involve handling physical money.
How can tellers stay valuable?
Learn to post armored car deposits in Microsoft Dynamics and check them against counts. Build balance checks in Microsoft Excel so drawer errors get caught early. Use Microsoft Outlook and Word to write clear discrepancy letters that customers can act on. Keep hand and machine cash counting skills sharp.
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Next steps for tellers
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