Bank Teller Assessment Test: What to Test and How (2026)

A teller handles other people's money all day, in front of them, with a queue behind them. Mistakes show up the same evening when the drawer does not balance, and a careless or dishonest hire costs the branch money and customer trust. A bank teller assessment test is how you find out before the first shift whether a candidate can count accurately, think on their feet and stick to procedure under pressure.

This guide is for recruiters and branch hiring managers. It covers what to test, what tests are available, sample tasks you can adapt, a scoring rubric, and the legal points that apply to banks in particular. The final section is for candidates preparing for a teller pre-employment test.

What is a bank teller assessment test?

A bank teller assessment test is a pre-employment test that checks whether a candidate can do a teller's core tasks: handle cash accurately, do quick arithmetic, serve customers well and follow security procedures. It usually combines a short numeracy or accuracy test with customer-service scenarios.

There is no single industry-standard "bank teller test". Banks do not publish which assessments they use, and the big test vendors mostly sell general entry-level or customer-service batteries that a bank can configure for tellers. SHL, for example, groups its job-focused assessments into categories such as Retail and Entry Level and Contact Center, with no banking-specific product on its public page. So in practice you build a teller assessment from parts.

What skills should a bank teller test measure?

Test the four skills the job description really depends on: cash handling accuracy, numeracy, customer service and integrity. Communication sits inside customer service.

These come straight from the government's own description of the job. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says tellers count and balance their cash drawer at the start and end of each shift, accept cash and cheques, answer customers' account questions and refer them to colleagues for other products. It lists detail orientation, integrity, maths, customer service and communication among the important qualities. O*NET, the US occupational database, puts balancing the drawer at the end of the shift first in its list of teller tasks, and lists number facility (adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing quickly and correctly) among the top abilities.

Our guides on assessing numerical reasoning and assessing attention to detail go deeper on the first two rows.

What tests do banks use for teller candidates?

Banks do not publicly document a standard teller test, so any list of "the test Bank X uses" is guesswork. What you can see is the type of tool on the market.

• Basic maths tests. Assessment libraries sell short arithmetic tests aimed at entry-level roles. TestGorilla's Basic Math Calculations test, for example, covers addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with integers of up to three digits and is pitched at entry-level roles such as retail and customer service.
• Attention-to-detail and clerical tests. Comparing figures, names and account numbers for errors. These map closely to checking deposit slips and identification.
• Customer-service batteries. Scenario questions or role-plays about difficult customers. See our customer service assessment page for what good ones include.
• Situational judgement tests. Workplace dilemmas with ranked answers, useful for procedure and integrity questions. Our situational judgement test guide explains the format.
• Personality or work-style questionnaires. Some employers add one for traits such as conscientiousness. Use them as one input among several; our guide to personality testing for hiring covers the limits.

Whichever vendor you choose, ask for evidence that the test predicts performance in teller or similar cash-handling roles, typical completion time, and how it handles accommodation requests. Check vendor sites for pricing.

What does a sample bank teller test look like?

A sample bank teller test has three short parts: a money arithmetic section, an accuracy check on transaction records, and one or two customer scenarios. The examples below are illustrations we wrote for this guide, sized for an entry-level role. Adapt them to your own products and procedures.

1. Cash count and balance. A drawer opened with a set float. During the shift the teller took in three cash deposits and paid out two withdrawals, listed with amounts. The drawer now holds a stated mix of notes and coins. Is the drawer over, short or balanced, and by how much? This tests addition, subtraction and composure with several numbers at once.

2. Making change and simple percentages. A customer cashes a cheque and asks for part of it in specific denominations. Another asks what a stated fee comes to as a percentage of a withdrawal. Keep the numbers realistic for the branch.

3. Spot the error. Show five deposit slips next to the matching system entries. Two contain a discrepancy: a transposed digit in the amount and a mismatched account number. The candidate marks which entries are wrong and why.

4. Customer scenario. A regular customer, in a hurry, asks to withdraw cash without their ID because "you know me". The queue is long. What does the candidate say and do? A strong answer is polite, explains the rule briefly, offers an alternative and does not make an exception.

5. Referral scenario. A customer asks a question about a loan product the teller does not handle. A strong answer acknowledges the question, explains who can help and makes the handover easy, matching the BLS description of tellers referring customers to the right colleague.

6. Discrepancy judgement. At close, the candidate's drawer is short by a small amount and a colleague suggests "just cover it" from a personal wallet. What should they do? Look for an answer that follows the bank's reporting procedure.

How do you score a teller pre-employment test?

Score each part separately against criteria you write down before testing, then combine. A single overall number hides the difference between a fast, careless candidate and a slower, accurate one, and for a teller accuracy matters more.

Use the same tasks, timing and rubric for every candidate, and have the person interviewing follow up on the weakest part. A structured interview scorecard keeps that consistent across interviewers and branches.

How do you assess integrity in bank teller candidates?

Assess integrity with situational questions about procedure, a structured interview and the background checks banking law requires. A pen-and-paper test alone will not tell you who is honest.

Three points shape what a US bank can do here:

• FDIC Section 19. Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1829) bars a person convicted of an offence involving dishonesty, breach of trust or money laundering, or who entered a pretrial diversion programme for one, from taking part in the affairs of an insured bank without the FDIC's written consent. The law excludes some older offences, some committed at age 21 or younger, expunged or sealed convictions and offences the FDIC designates as de minimis. This is why background checks are routine for tellers; the BLS also notes tellers may need to pass one.
• No polygraphs for most employers. The Employee Polygraph Protection Act stops most private employers from using lie detectors in pre-employment screening. The exemptions the Department of Labor lists cover security firms and pharmaceutical businesses. Banks are not on that list.
• Ask about behaviour. Questions such as "what would you do if your drawer were over at close?" reveal how a candidate thinks about procedure. Asking candidates to rate their own honesty does not.

This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice. Your compliance team should confirm how Section 19 and state background-check rules apply to your process.

What legal rules apply to bank teller tests?

In the US, any teller test must be job-related and consistent with business necessity if it screens out a protected group disproportionately, and you must offer reasonable accommodation to disabled candidates in how the test is given. That is the EEOC's position in its guidance on employment tests.

In practice: test skills tellers actually use, apply the same test to everyone at the same stage, monitor pass rates by group, and have an accommodation route ready (extra time, a reader, a different format). If you use an AI tool to score or rank candidates, local AI hiring rules may also apply. Our AI hiring laws 2026 guide summarises them.

How long should a bank teller assessment be?

Keep it as short as you can while still covering the four skills. A long test before any human contact risks losing good candidates who have other options. Take the test yourself before sending it, and drop any section that does not change who you would interview.

A sensible sequence is: a short online numeracy and accuracy test for everyone, a customer scenario or role-play for those who pass, then a structured interview and the background check before an offer.

Where does Cohesyve fit?

Cohesyve, which publishes this guide, is built for this kind of high-volume, customer-facing hiring. A bank gives Cohesyve a teller job description. Cohesyve sources candidates, handles outreach, puts them through AI job simulations of the real work, such as a chat or voice role-play with an AI customer, and returns a ranked shortlist for the branch manager to interview. Plans are a subscription from $199 a month billed annually, and a new account includes 10 free candidates. Background checks and Section 19 screening stay with your existing compliance process.

How should candidates prepare for a bank teller test?

Candidates should practise quick money arithmetic without a calculator, rehearse checking figures for errors, and prepare short examples of serving customers and following rules under pressure.

• Practise arithmetic with money. Add up mixed notes and coins, work out change, and calculate simple percentages until it feels routine.
• Practise checking. Compare two lists of numbers or names and find the differences. Speed comes from a steady method, such as checking one column at a time.
• Know the job. Read the listing and the BLS description of teller duties. Expect questions about balancing a drawer, checking ID and referring customers.
• Prepare customer stories. Have two or three real examples of handling an upset customer or a busy queue, told in situation, action and result.
• Expect a background check. Be honest on the application. Banks are required to screen for certain offences.

Job seekers can practise a free customer service representative simulation on Cohesyve to rehearse realistic customer conversations.

Frequently asked questions

What is on a bank teller test? Usually everyday arithmetic with money, an accuracy or error-spotting section, and customer-service or situational questions. Some employers add a personality questionnaire. Banks do not publish their exact tests.

Is the bank teller test hard? The maths is everyday arithmetic. O*NET lists number facility (quick, correct adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing) as a core teller ability. Accuracy under time pressure is what separates candidates.

Do banks use a teller pre-employment test for every hire? Practice varies by bank and banks do not publish it. Background checks, by contrast, are routine because federal law restricts who can work at an insured bank.

Can a bank make teller applicants take a lie detector test? For most private employers, no. The Employee Polygraph Protection Act prohibits lie detector tests in pre-employment screening, and banks are not among the exemptions the Department of Labor lists.

Do tellers need a degree? The BLS says tellers typically need a high school diploma or equivalent, and new tellers are usually trained on the job by a head teller or experienced teller.

Should I test for sales skills? Only if your tellers are expected to refer or cross-sell products. Then a short referral scenario covers it better than a sales personality test.