Last reviewed 5 November 2026 against the sources linked in this post.
Bank teller training has to cover more than cash handling now. The US Federal Trade Commission says total fraud losses reported by adults aged 60 and over rose about fivefold between 2020 and 2025, and some of those customers will come to a branch counter. A teller can be the last person who gets to ask a good question before money leaves.
This list is for branch managers and training leads. You get 14 ready-made courses in 4 groups, what each one fixes and how to roll them out. Each group ends with an Our pick. The rules mentioned are US federal ones, so treat this as a syllabus, not a ruling.
All 14 courses at a glance
| Course | What it covers | Length | US rule cited in this post |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act | Structuring, cash reports and suspicious activity reports | 50 min | AML program rule (31 CFR 1020.210), SAR rule (1020.320) |
| Know your customer and customer identification program | Identity checks, beneficial owners, when to say no | 40 min | Customer identification program rule (1020.220) |
| Identity theft Red Flags Rule | Five categories of identity theft red flags | 30 min | Not cited here |
| Fraud and scam recognition for customer-facing staff | Scam types, pressure and when to challenge a payment | 35 min | Not cited here |
| Social engineering, fraud and deepfakes | Phone, payment and impersonation scams | 35 min | Not cited here |
| Consumer protection and UDAAP | Unfair, deceptive and abusive practices | 35 min | Not cited here |
| Customer complaint handling huddle | A four-step huddle on complaints | 20 min | Not cited here |
| Serving customers from every background | The same standard of service for every customer | 30 min | Not cited here |
| Payments, cards and trade-finance operations | How money moves behind the counter | 40 min | Not cited here |
| Annual compliance refresher quiz | Privacy, reporting and speaking up in one session | 20 min | Not cited here |
| Code of conduct | A decision test for grey areas | 35 min | Not cited here |
| Conflicts of interest | Disclose, then decide | 25 min | Not cited here |
| Phishing and social engineering | Red flags and how to respond | 30 min | Not cited here |
| Data classification and handling | Labelling, storing and sharing customer data | 25 min | Not cited here |
Three US federal rules sit behind two of the courses in the first group: the AML course covers the AML programme and suspicious activity reporting rules, and the KYC course covers customer identification. Under the FinCEN rule for banks, an anti-money laundering programme must include training for appropriate personnel, and the rule does not name a course or a frequency. A bank must also keep a written customer identification program with procedures for verifying identity. And a bank files a suspicious activity report when a transaction conducted or attempted by, at or through the bank involves or aggregates at least USD 5,000 and the bank knows, suspects or has reason to suspect one of the rule's conditions. The rules above do not name the other courses on this list.
Financial crime, identity and fraud
Anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act
Tellers are often among the first to see structuring and odd cash patterns. This 50-minute course has 7 lessons, from why money laundering exists to currency transaction reports, red flags, suspicious activity reports and the ban on tipping off, and ends with a 12-question final check. A sorting activity on everyday transactions works well as a Pick Answer round. For 25 specific warning signs, see our guide to AML red flags.
Know your customer and customer identification program
Identity checks at the counter are an early know-your-customer control. This 40-minute course covers why KYC exists, the minimum data to collect, how to verify identity, beneficial ownership for business customers and what to do when you cannot verify someone. It closes with a 12-question final check. Ask the team "What would make you stop an account opening?" as a Word Cloud and compare it with the course's can't-verify lesson.
Identity theft Red Flags Rule
Stolen identities turn up at account opening and in servicing. This 30-minute course teaches the five categories of red flags, how to detect them, how to respond and how to report through the programme owner. It ends with a 10-question final check. A multi-select quiz on a mixed set of documents tests whether tellers can spot more than one flag at once.
Fraud and scam recognition for customer-facing staff
This 35-minute course opens with a branch counter scene and covers how scams use pressure, the common scam types, red flags and supportive questions to ask, and a "challenge or proceed?" set of grey-area scenarios. Staff finish with a final assessment. It prepares tellers for the customer who says they were told to keep a payment secret.
Social engineering, fraud and deepfakes: phone, payment and impersonation scams
Impersonation scams reach tellers by phone and at the counter. This 35-minute course follows a convincing request for new bank details, then covers the tactics, how to verify the money, faked voices and video, and why seniority and politeness are pressure, not proof. A Pick Answer question on "what is the most reliable way to check a change of bank details?" is a good opener. For more attack types, see our guide to social engineering examples.
Our pick: Fraud and scam recognition for customer-facing staff. It is built around the counter and the phone, and the "challenge or proceed?" scenarios give tellers words to use with a customer who is about to be scammed.
Fair treatment and complaints
Consumer protection and UDAAP
Tellers explain fees and products every day. This 35-minute course explains who enforces the rules on unfair, deceptive and abusive practices, applies the three tests, sorts allowed from not-allowed practices and shows how to escalate a misleading script. It ends with a 10-question final check. The "no monthly fee" poster scenario shows how an overall impression can mislead even when each word is true.
Customer complaint handling huddle
Small complaints are an early warning. This 20-minute huddle, with 3 lessons, covers a four-step huddle, how to keep it safe and fair with fictional cases, how to run it remotely and how to lead with confidence. It ends with a 5-question final check. Use it at a branch team meeting rather than as a solo course.
Serving customers from every background
This 30-minute course explains why every customer gets the same standard, how a quick assumption leads to unequal service, a short check before acting on an assumption and how to escalate complaints, including customer harassment of staff. It ends with a 12-question final check. A scenario about a customer given a leaflet instead of a walk-through is a useful discussion starter.
Our pick: Customer complaint handling huddle. At 20 minutes it fits a branch team meeting, and small complaints are often an early warning.
Operations and refreshers
Payments, cards and trade-finance operations
Tellers see the front of a payment, and this 40-minute course shows the chain behind it: how money moves, accounts and instruments, card payments, cross-border payments and trade finance, exceptions and reconciliation. An ordering activity that puts a card payment's steps in order helps new tellers see why an item becomes an exception.
Annual compliance refresher quiz
This 20-minute course has 3 lessons on privacy and fair treatment, reporting and records, and speaking up, with a 7-question final check. Questions such as "Who can see a customer's information?" take seconds to answer, so tellers can finish it in one session. Pair it with a post-course Rating Scale on confidence.
Our pick: Annual compliance refresher quiz. At 20 minutes it is a short way to run, and record, an annual refresher, and the final check tells you where to spend the next hour. Your own policy decides what satisfies your regulator.
Conduct and data security
Code of conduct
This 35-minute course covers why integrity matters, the rules in brief, a decision framework, grey areas and how to speak up and recognise retaliation, with a 10-question final check. It suits staff who handle other people's money all day. Run the "not sure means stop and ask" question as a live poll.
Conflicts of interest
Branch staff know their customers, and sometimes their cousins. This 25-minute course defines actual, potential and perceived conflicts, lists common types such as gifts and outside work, teaches "disclose, then decide" and shows how to complete a disclosure. It ends with an 8-question final check.
Phishing and social engineering
Branch systems are targets for email and text attacks, and one click can lead to account takeover. This 30-minute course traces a business email compromise, teaches the red flags across email, SMS, voice and QR codes, and covers how to respond after clicking or paying. It ends with a 12-question final check.
Data classification and handling
Customer data should be handled only as policy allows. This 25-minute course explains classification levels, how to label, store, share and dispose of data, the red flags of mishandling and how to report it. It ends with a 10-question final check. The "anyone with the link" question is a quick eye-opener for tellers who email forms.
Our pick: Data classification and handling. Tellers handle account and identity details all day, and a short rule on where it may be shared helps prevent avoidable mistakes.
How to roll the plan out
Order it by risk and by what your regulator expects. With older customers' reported fraud losses up about fivefold since 2020, put fraud and scam recognition in the first month.
- First week of a new teller: KYC and customer identification, anti-money laundering, and data classification.
- First month: fraud and scam recognition, identity theft red flags, and phishing.
- First quarter: UDAAP, complaint handling, code of conduct and conflicts of interest.
- Each year: the annual refresher quiz, plus the AML course for anyone whose role touches cash reporting. The AML rule requires training for appropriate personnel, so check your own policy for who and how often.
- When it applies: if you operate outside the US, swap the US federal courses for your own regulator's equivalent, and ask your compliance team what applies in your state or country.
Ways to run these courses on AhaSlides
You can build any of these as a self-paced course with the AhaSlides course creator, run them as a live Q&A deck, or both, with a pre and post survey to see what changed.
- Pick Answer: show a teller scenario with four possible next steps, such as a customer who wants to withdraw cash to pay a "tax officer".
- Word Cloud: ask "What makes you uneasy at the counter?" The biggest words show which course to run first.
- Rating Scale: before and after, ask "How confident are you challenging a payment you think is a scam?" from 1 to 5.
- Open Ended: collect anonymous near-misses at the end of a live huddle.
FAQ
What training do bank tellers need?
Tellers typically need training on anti-money laundering and customer identification, plus fraud awareness, fair service and data protection, as your policy sets out. The AML rule requires training for appropriate personnel, so your policy decides who needs what. The courses above cover those, while the cash handling and systems skills come from your bank's own onboarding.
Do bank tellers need certification?
The federal rules cited above do not require a teller certificate. Optional credentials exist, such as the ABA Bank Teller Certificate. Employers set their own requirements, so check your bank's policy and your state's.
How often do bank staff retrain on AML?
The AML programme rule requires training for appropriate personnel and does not state an interval. Set the schedule in your own policy and keep a record of who completed it.
What is a suspicious activity report?
A suspicious activity report is a report a bank files with FinCEN, part of the US Treasury, when a transaction of at least USD 5,000 raises concerns the rule lists, such as funds from illegal activity, evasion of Bank Secrecy Act requirements or no apparent lawful purpose. Under the rule, a bank and its employees may not disclose a report or anything that would reveal it exists, apart from the exceptions the rule lists, such as disclosure to FinCEN or law enforcement.
This post is general information, not legal advice. For a decision about your own workplace, speak to a qualified lawyer or the regulator.
