Not a Healthy Environment - Anonymous employee First Niagara Bank Employee Review

Over the past 5 years, employees per branch have been consistently decreasing. The role of the teller has been phased out and replaced with a hybrid teller/sales role. Separation of duties has become second to keeping staffing low. Oversight of management by upper management is inconsistent. There is an "Old Boys Club" that allows certain managers to do nothing in their offices all day long. Regional manager promotes sales tactics that advise employees to ignore whether or not a customer can afford a loan payment. Long-time employees in the branches will often openly treat customers with a large amount of money better than other customers. They also promise that things will be free, resulting in unnecessary fee rebates. Certain customers get all of their checks made available right away, despite the risk taken in doing so. This habit has resulted in losses.