Bond Interest Clerk Job Description
Job Descriptions November 11, 2013The main duty of a bond interest clerk is to manage dividends and bond interest. This means that not only are bond interest clerks responsible for assuring interest is paid on time and in full to the correct bonds, but also that customers understand all of the details concerning their bonds and bond interest payments. In order to certify that every account is correct, clerks must take special care to record every interest payment and review those payments regularly. Maintaining those records is essential to the functions of the clerk and to the satisfactions of the customer.
Clerks will spend the majority of their time handling customer requests and ensuring interest payments are properly administered. Customer requests may come in the form of basic questions about when interest will be paid, to more complex questions about bond duration and extension. Answering these questions may take significant time and research, in order to ensure that customer questions are fully answered, and every individual is satisfied. Recording these requests, the research conducted, and the answers provided are also duties of the clerk. These requests may come through an automatic ticketing system or through a help-line, making organization and record keeping often the most time-consuming duties of the clerk.
Another task primarily undertaken by bond interest clerks is the creation of account reports. As each account accrues interest, customers will want to see the progression of the bond. Supervisors may also prefer records to be kept in the form of statistical reports. Most banks now use software that automatically generates these kinds of reports, although clerks must still input the data. This requires some working knowledge of statistics, especially in order to be able to spot any inconsistencies, even in computer generated reports.
Clerks generally work directly under a senior clerk or a manager. Some clerk positions require an associate’s degree, while others require only experience working in the financial field and an attention to detail. Because managing interest payments, researching customer needs, and creating reports all require a degree of flexibility, creativity and the ability to complete tasks without supervision is necessary. Customer service skills and an analytical mind are also great for a bond interest clerk to have.
