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A Look Inside the Retail Banking Academy in Iran
For the first time earlier this year the Retail
Banking Academy (RBA) had the pleasure
of taking its Certified Retail Banker (CRB)
programme to Tehran, Iran with Saman Bank.
For four weeks, candidates studied a range
of topics, from modules in Retail Banking I –
the first of three constituent pathways in the
CRB programme
The programme was well received.
Candidates gave positive feedback about
their experiences, and highlighted the
quality of RBA’s faculty and the impressive
content of the Retail Banking I course book.
Davood Souri, advisor to Saman Bank’s CEO,
called the course book a “handbook for any
retail banker, concise and informative”. Such
was the impact of the programme at Saman
Bank that the bank has plans to make RBA’s
qualifications mandatory for many existing
and aspiring managers throughout the bank.
When asked about his perception of key
attributes for an effective retail banker at
Saman Bank, Davood said that “Banks
need employees with essential skills and
characteristics, such as having a customeroriented attitude. A successful banker has to
always remember to put customer interests
first and commit to delivering superior
customer service. Good communication and
negotiation skills are also vital.
Banks need employees with
essential skills and characteristics,
such as having a customeroriented attitude. A successful
banker has to always remember
to put customer interests first and
commit to delivering superior
customer service.
A successful banker is one who is able
to engage and network with internal and
external stakeholders for the desired results.
Bankers need to have the communication
and negotiation skills to understand and find
solutions to difficult situations in order to
resolve customer queries.”
Davood also noted that “Excellent product
knowledge is imperative; bankers need to be
up-to-date with industry news, competitors
and
in-house
product
innovations.”
He summed up his views thus: “Sound
judgement is vital; a banker has to be vigilant
to avert frauds”.
When discussing training and education
more widely, Davood said: “Banking is a
dynamic industry; it changes with technology
– perhaps, more than any other service
industry, [banking is] faced with new needs
and demand from its customers. It is also
highly competitive. The banks compete
with each other to attract customers and the
winner is the one who has the best trained
bankers.” Davood’s view highlights a need
to continually educate and innovate so that
Iranian banks remain competitive
When asked about how RBA fits within
Saman Bank’s view of training and education,
Davood commented that “Saman Bank has
its own training centre and a well-planned,
on-the-job training programme for each of
its personnel. However, we find RBA offers
the most up-to-date and well-structured
retail banking program that fits our needs
the best”.
We find RBA offers the most
up-to-date and well-structured
retail banking program that fits
our needs the best.
The banks compete with each
other to attract customers and
the winner is the one who has the
best trained bankers.
Insightfully, Davood concluded that banking
is seen as a prestigious career in Iran, with
over 150,000 people working within the
profession. However, he noted that there
is no definitive standard for professional
banking education, because most Iranian
banks use their own in-house training centres
to educate staff.
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