All the Bank’s a Stage for N.Y. Tellers

NEW YORK — Chris Northup, a professional actor, sees his audience each day one person at a time.

“May I help you?” is his best line, and his performance usually includes taking deposits or withdrawals. No one applauds, but the audience often leaves contented.

Northup is not playing a bank teller--he is one. The 28-year-old from Jersey City, N.J., was recruited a month ago by National Westminster Bancorp Inc. to improve customer service. The New York-based banking corporation discovered that it was hard to find part-time tellers who could be congenial, outgoing and nice to customers. Instead, the bank found people who could act that way.

“I think we relate to people really well,” said David Michaels, a 27-year-old actor/singer/dancer who works at the bank’s midtown Manhattan branch. “Part of acting is about relationships. If a customer is getting angry, the (teller) can act nice. It’s like when you’re onstage.”

About 10 percent of NatWest’s 1,000 tellers are performers. Most join the bank after working in unstable, hectic jobs, such as driving cabs or waiting tables, said Joey Fortine, a part-time recruiter for NatWest and a performer himself. There are actors, dancers, singers and even a former Macy’s Santa Claus working at most of the 16 branches in Manhattan.

The pay isn’t great--$8.50 an hour for 18 hours per week--but the hours and stability allow working actors to perform and non-working actors to audition, Fortine said.

Michele Uhl, human resources officer for NatWest, interviews performers with an aptitude for math and sometimes a background in retail. Hired applicants are enrolled in a full-time, three-week teller training program.

About 400 performers have interviewed for teller jobs since the program’s start in 1990, when bank officials realized that they needed more part-time tellers. Fortine happened to be working on a trade video for NatWest at the time and suggested that the bank consider hiring performers.