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 A bricklayer has bricks, a
trowel, cement in a bucket, a chef has a kitchen with all the necessary
gadgets. It is at first somewhat
strange to think that the staff of a bank might also have its own “tools of
the trade”. Here, we look at some of
the more important ones – not least cash itself – that help Martins Bank
provide service that brings a smile to BOTH sides of the
counter, AND of course,
goes to extremes to be helpful. Don’t take it all too seriously however,
much of what you see here no longer exists, as the modern day cashier is
now likely to be a machine for paying in, drawing out, or both. In more
human times, once trained as a cashier you would have to face all manner of
members of the public, all of whom would expect you to be an authority on
everything from looking after their horses in the street to cashing cheques
against an empty account…
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WHY NOT ALSO VISIT THESE PAGES
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Setting the right tone…
Image
© Barclays Ref 0030/1996
It does not have to be complicated or fussy. This is the counter area that greets the
customers of Martins Bank’s Branch at Denton Burn, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Minimal, practical and with a chair thoughtfully placed for those who cannot
stand for long in a queue. The ashtray is – sadly – a sign of less health
conscious times.
Traffic lights?
Whichever bank you work for, you will always remember the day you
received your own till sign, with your name printed on it. The Martins
Bank Cashier has three signs at his/her disposal to prepare for the
“onslaught” of the dreaded customer:
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STOP
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this till is closed,
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READY
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“attendance temporarily discontinued”
(how marvellous!) and:
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GO!
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the cashier’s name shows they are open for business.
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Book Keeping…
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The
Cashier’s Balance Book
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Paying-In
Slip
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The everyday tools in the cashier’s armoury are
the balance book, sometimes called the “telling-up” book, and a variety of
forms predominant amongst which is the humble paying-in slip. You can see further examples of internally used Martins Bank
stationery at STATIONERY DEPARTMENT.
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The write way to
do it…
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The Esterbrook Desk Pen – all that
is classy about a visit to a Martins Banking Hall. It’s a good job that Mr
Robert Johnson, (ficticious customer of Ellesmere Port Branch) is handy
with one of these, as the results look very nice indeed. Is it a means of
communication or a work of art?
You decide, but the Esterbrook
pen with its revolutionary self-filling mechanism beats hands down those
cheap biros given away by some banks today!
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Images © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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Stock in Trade…
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Cash is, of course, the main stock in trade of
bank cashiers. Martins’ Staff know
that every last halfpenny in the till belongs to the customer, so every day
great care is taken to ensure that the books balance.
x
Shown under licence from the Bank of England
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Images © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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To help serve customers more quickly, weighing
scales are used both to prepare and check bundles of notes and bags of
coin, but they are ALWAYS
double checked to maintain accuracy! There is one aspect of the taking in of
cash from customers that is probably likely to remain a real bugbear, even
amongst today’s dwindling number of human cashiers – no matter how easy you
make it for a customer to count and record their own property on a paying
in slip, many of them simply don’t bother.
Personal customers in particular will be the first to tut and sigh
as the cashier explains that this is a process of double check: How can the
cashier confirm exactly what is being paid in, if the customer just hasn’t
bothered to record it! This
conundrum will run until every bank branch in the World has been pulled
down…
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To do things “by the
book”, you will, of course, need “the book”…
“Notes for Cashiers”
has been issued with the following uses in mind:
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NOTES FOR
CASHIERS
These notes have been
prepared to serve a threefold purpose, namely:
(1)
To act as a basis for
instruction in Cashiers' Training Courses
throughout the Bank
(2)
To be a practical guide to
the inexperienced cashier.
(3)
To provide a handy book of
reference in case of need for the experienced cashier.
It is hoped that the advice and
hints given in these notes will help in providing a courteous and efficient
service which this Bank at all times endeavours to give to customers. As a
result of such services favourable impressions are created and lead to
recommendations which can prove to be our best form of advertising.
January 1965
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Sometimes, the problems faced by a cashier can be
such that a simple guide such as “Notes for Cashiers” simply can’t provide
the answer.
Enter Martins’ Book of Instructions, the last
word in what every member of staff should or should not do to ensure the
smooth running of the branch…
The book has been cleverly bound with blank pages
and spaces to insert both new and amended procedures.
As you would expect, the bank protects its
customers by keeping procedures private and confidential, there is not much
therefore that we are allowed to say about Martins Bank’s book of
instructions!
So now you can bank with confidence, safe in the
knowledge that our cashiers will let you know when they are ready to
serve.
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When they do, they have the right training,
instructions and stationery at their disposal, and above all, they will
go to EXTREMES to be helpful!
… and finally, why
not say it with flowers…
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The Bank
sets great store by the daily provision of a riot of colourful flowers in each
of its offices, and chief among these displays must surely have been at
Head Office, Water Street Liverpool. You might be forgiven for thinking
that Miss Margaret Gordon Taylor, seen here in 1959 sitting next to one of
her amazing creations, spent all her time arranging flowers, but no – she
is Typist to one of the Managers of Liverpool City Office. Every Sunday
evening in their OWN private time, Miss Gordon Taylor and her Mother go to
Head Office and put together a new display. The flowers were even grown to
Miss Gordon Taylor’s requirements by her father. The displays were eagerly awaited by
customers who would call in each Monday to see the latest one. Martins Bank
Magazine even claims “one hears these displays talked about in the City”.
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 M
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