New Report: Sales Quotas and High-Pressure Culture Still Rampant for Bank Workers Despite Scandals

Nearly two years after revelations of Wells Fargo's fraudulent account practices exposed predatory sales policies and abusive working conditions at the nation's biggest banks, a new report from the National Employment Law Project (NELP) and the Committee for Better Banks (CBB), a project of CWA, shows that little has changed — frontline workers are still facing high-pressure quotas, low pay, and few opportunities to advocate for better customer service.

Despite public pledges by bank executives to eliminate sales quotes and fix a toxic workplace culture, more than half of frontline bank workers surveyed say they still depend on bonuses or incentive pay, and 90 percent of workers report facing consequences including bullying, retaliation, or possible termination if they fail to meet these metrics.  

"The banks promised things would be different, but the reality is bank workers like myself still face low pay, a toxic culture, and unclear metrics that aren't always aligned with the best interests of our customers," said Peggy Johnson, a member of the Committee for Better Banks and a customer service representative for Santander in Dallas. 

The report, based on a nationwide survey of 400 frontline workers employed by some of the largest banks in the country including Wells Fargo, US Bank, Bank of America, SunTrust, Citibank, Chase, and Santander, comes as Congress has rolled back bank regulations passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and the Trump Administration continues to make it harder for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to advocate for Americans targeted by abusive big bank behavior. 

Read the full report here.