Cashier

A cashier is a person whose job is to receive and pay out money on behalf of an organisation. In banking, the cashier is the member of branch staff who serves customers at the counter: taking cash and cheque deposits, paying out withdrawals, and handling other over-the-counter transactions. British banks traditionally say "cashier"; American banks say "teller", which is also the origin of the term automated teller machine.

The word is used more widely too. A shop cashier runs the till, and in some companies and older banks "cashier" was a senior title for the officer in charge of the organisation's money. The Bank of England's Chief Cashier, whose signature appears on its banknotes, keeps that historic meaning. In the US the same root gives the cashier's check, a cheque drawn by a bank on its own funds.

A bank cashier is the person behind the glass at a bank branch. You hand over money and a paying-in slip, and they count it, check it and put it into your account. You ask for money, and they check who you are and that you have enough, then count it out to you.

It is a bit like a ticket office at a busy station. The clerk deals with each person in the queue, keeps the drawer balanced, and at closing time has to show that every note going in or out matches a ticket sold or refunded. A cashier does the same with deposits and withdrawals.

• Cash deposits and withdrawals. Counting notes and coins, checking them for counterfeits, crediting a deposit to the right account and paying out a withdrawal after checking identity and balance.
• Cheques. Accepting cheques for deposit, checking the payee, date and signature, and stamping a franking mark where the bank does so.
• Bill payments and drafts. Taking payment of utility bills, taxes and fees where banks act as collection points, and issuing a banker's draft or pay order.
• Currency exchange. Buying and selling foreign notes at some branches.
• Referrals. Passing customers to other staff for loans, account opening or problems.

Each cashier is issued a cash float at the start of the day, kept in a locked drawer or cash box, and must balance it at the end of the shift against the day's records. Shortages and surpluses are logged and investigated. Branches use dual control, where two staff must be present to open the vault or move large sums, to reduce theft and error.

Cashiers are the front line of a bank's anti-money-laundering controls. They are trained to notice unusual cash activity and report it internally. In the US, banks must file a Currency Transaction Report for cash transactions over $10,000 in a business day, and cashiers watch for structuring, where a customer splits deposits to stay under the threshold. In the UK and Pakistan the same idea applies through suspicious-transaction reporting to the national financial intelligence unit. Cashiers also see scams first-hand: staff may question an elderly customer who wants to withdraw a large sum in cash for a stranger, a common sign of fraud.

A cashier's check is a US payment instrument drawn by a bank on itself and signed by a bank officer. The customer pays the bank first, so the check is backed by the bank rather than by the customer's account, and it is often required for house purchases, car sales and deposits on rentals. Under the Federal Reserve's Regulation CC, cashier's checks receive faster funds availability than ordinary checks. The British equivalent is the banker's draft. Fake cashier's checks are a well-known scam tool, so recipients are advised to confirm a check with the issuing bank using contact details they find themselves.

Machines and apps have taken over much counter work. Cash machines dispense notes and many accept deposits, cheques can be paid in with remote deposit capture, and transfers happen on phones. Banks in Britain, the US and elsewhere have closed many branches and cut cashier numbers, and some branches now have no counter at all. In countries where cash and cheques remain widely used, including Pakistan, the bank cashier is still a central figure in daily banking, alongside agents and mobile money outlets.

• Federal Reserve: Regulation CC
• Bank of England