This is the story of Mr. N.T.T, a credit officer at a large bank. Mr. N.T.T has been working at the bank for 10 years.
I’m frustrated because my wife demands a higher salary
After 1 year of graduation, I was recruited as a personal relationship specialist (often referred to as a credit officer) at a mid-sized private bank. My income depends on the completion of KPIs. Up to now, I have been working in this position for 10 years and have worked for 3 different banks.
During the 10 years of working, although the seniority increased, it does not mean that my salary increased steadily, but it fluctuated like a sine wave. There was a period where my salary decreased sharply due to difficult economic conditions, ineffective business results, profits of the bank, and my branch.
Like the past New Year, my income decreased by up to 40%. The Tet bonus amount was also only 1 month’s salary, symbolic because my branch did not achieve the set business targets, with many bad debts.
Working as a bank employee, it’s not as nice as rumored.
However, during the last Tet holiday, when I returned from work one day, my wife sent me a link to an article about the average income of bank employees. My wife started to question why the salary of bank employees that was publicly announced was over 40 million VND/month, but why I only bring home 20 million VND each month.
Not to mention, my wife, who also has some knowledge of accounting and finance, also criticized, saying: Normally, the figures published by the bank will be lower compared to the actual ones. Therefore, it is obvious that my salary is even higher than what was published.
So, in the days that followed, every 2 days on average, my wife kept mentioning the salary issue. Not stopping there, my wife also questioned whether my Tet bonus was not that low because many companies announced bonuses of 5-10 months’ salary.
Angry because I had to listen to complaints and nagging every day, after explaining but my wife didn’t understand, I got upset and said to my wife, “Go to the press and demand it.” After that statement, my wife and I started a cold war that lasted for a few days.
Working as a bank employee is not as nice as rumored
When people know that I work as a bank employee, many relatives think I am rich. But in reality, my salary is only at an average level, enough to meet the basic living needs of my family. In order to buy a house, I have to truly cut down on expenses and rely on the support of both families.
I consider myself a thrifty person. After getting married in 2016, I divided the money into 3 parts. 50% for my wife to take care of the internal and external expenses of the family. 25% for the home loan. And I only spend 25% for personal needs such as gas money, having coffee with customers, phone bill, lunch… When the rent is fully paid, I still only keep 25% of the income for personal use, the rest is given to my wife for savings and household expenses.
At the present time, when income has sharply decreased, I still try to give my wife 15-20 million VND/month, lower than from 5-10 million VND compared to the time when I had a decent income. However, my wife still complains and is not satisfied with me without knowing that the job of a bank employee is extremely difficult and stressful.
According to the regulations of our bank, the income level depends on the amount of disbursed loans. While the number of customers is limited, relationships are limited, loan policies, accompanying preferences among banks are extremely competitive. Currently, some banks lend at low interest rates and with high benefits, the ability to reach customers of us is becoming narrower.
In addition to that criterion, we are also pressured with credit card targets, new account numbers… In each period, we have different additional targets.
In 2023 and 2024, the economy was difficult, the number of borrowing customers decreased because everyone was afraid of income reduction. My income also decreased sharply. To achieve an income of 20 million VND, a relatively reasonable level like today, I have to bear a lot of pressure and challenges. So, I hope people outside understand the job of bank employees, don’t just look at the surface or figures in the press to make subjective comments different from reality.
(This article is shared by a reader who is working in the banking industry)
