Banking Tests

Banking Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a risk assistant. Over three months you have noticed the same team submitting expense claims just under the £250 receipt threshold: nineteen of them, all between £240 and £249. Each one is within policy. Your manager is busy and has asked people to bring her “only real issues”. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Put the nineteen claims and the pattern on one page for your manager, say that each is within policy, and ask whether she wants it looked at further.
   2. Leave it, since every claim is inside the policy and nineteen individually compliant expense claims are not what your manager meant by a real issue.
   3. Raise each of the nineteen claims separately through the expenses query process, so that every one of them is formally on the record.
   4. Approach the team's manager informally to ask why the claims cluster just under the threshold, before mentioning it to anybody in your own team.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Put the nineteen claims and the pattern on one page for your manager, say that each is within policy, and ask whether she wants it looked at further.

   Least effective: B. Leave it, since every claim is inside the policy and nineteen individually compliant expense claims are not what your manager meant by a real issue.

   B: Declines to raise the only thing nobody else can see: the pattern is invisible from any single claim, and the person who could decide what it means is never given the chance to.

   C: Reports the instances instead of the pattern: nineteen individually compliant queries will be closed one by one and the shape is lost.

   D: Tips off the subject before the record exists: whatever the answer, the pattern is now known to be watched and nothing has been logged.

   The most effective response is to put the nineteen claims and the pattern on one page for your manager, say that each is within policy, and ask whether she wants it looked at further: one page makes visible what no individual claim shows, it is honest that nothing breaches policy, and the decision goes to the person who owns it. It beats raising each of the nineteen separately through the expenses query process, because that destroys the only thing worth seeing. It beats approaching the team’s manager informally to ask about the clustering, because approaching the subject first is the one order that cannot be undone. The least effective response is leaving it because every claim is inside the policy: the pattern dies with the person who spotted it, on a reading of what counts as a real issue that nobody has confirmed. That is avoidance rather than a misjudged route. The principle: escalate the shape, not the instances, and let the decision sit where it belongs.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a risk assistant. Three weeks ago your team leader ruled that a colleague’s risk rating should be overridden by yours. Since then he has declined to attend the weekly session you both run, sending apologies each time. The session is thinner without him and nobody has said anything. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Stop inviting him to the session altogether so that you do not have to deal with him each week, and leave your team leader to notice the change herself.
   2. Carry on sending the invitation and never mention the absences, on the basis that he will come back when he is ready to.
   3. Ask him directly for ten minutes, say the session needs him and that you would rather clear the air about the rating than keep working around it.
   4. Tell your team leader that he has missed three sessions since the ruling, and ask her to require him to attend.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Ask him directly for ten minutes, say the session needs him and that you would rather clear the air about the rating than keep working around it.

   Least effective: A. Stop inviting him to the session altogether so that you do not have to deal with him each week, and leave your team leader to notice the change herself.

   A: Answers a withdrawal with a withdrawal: the invitation is removed so the awkwardness goes away, and a working relationship the team needs is quietly ended.

   B: Waits out a pattern three weeks old: nothing about the situation is changing on its own and the session keeps degrading.

   D: Escalates before speaking to him: he has not been asked, and being ordered back by the person who ruled against him makes it worse.

   The most effective response is to ask him directly for ten minutes, say the session needs him and that you would rather clear the air about the rating: it is direct, it separates the ruling from the working relationship, and it is the only response that gives him a way back without losing face. It beats carrying on sending the invitation and never mentioning the absences, because three weeks of apologies is a pattern, not a mood. It beats telling your team leader he has missed three sessions and asking her to require attendance, because an instruction from the person who ruled against him hardens it. The least effective response is dropping him from the session so you do not have to deal with him each week: it ends the working relationship to avoid the discomfort and hides the whole thing from the person who could help. That is answering payback with payback rather than under-reacting or over-escalating. The principle: ask him directly, and keep the door you control wide open.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a financial crime analyst. A colleague asks you to take twelve of her cases this week because she has “a lot on”. She asked the same last month and you agreed. Your own queue is full but manageable. Your team leader allocates cases and does not know about either request. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her you cannot take any of them this week, and leave it there without suggesting anything about the allocation.
   2. Tell her you can take a few but that this is the second time, and that the two of you should put the allocation to your team leader rather than rearranging it privately.
   3. Take a few of them without saying anything, since you managed last month and she would not ask twice without a reason for it.
   4. Send the twelve cases straight over to your team leader to reallocate, without telling your colleague that you have done so or that you were asked.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell her you can take a few but that this is the second time, and that the two of you should put the allocation to your team leader rather than rearranging it privately.

   Least effective: D. Send the twelve cases straight over to your team leader to reallocate, without telling your colleague that you have done so or that you were asked.

   A: Refuses without a route: she still has a queue she cannot manage and nothing has been raised with anybody who could change it.

   C: Prioritises harmony over honesty: a few cases move, the allocation stays hidden from the person who owns it, and the pattern is set for a third time.

   D: Hands the request to a manager behind the colleague's back: she asked you directly, and the first she hears is a reallocation she did not expect.

   The most effective response is to tell her you can take a few but that this is the second time, and that the two of you should put the allocation to your team leader: it helps a little, names the pattern honestly to her face, and takes the question to the person whose job it is. It beats taking a few without saying anything because you managed last month, since absorbing it twice hides a real allocation problem. It beats telling her you cannot take any this week and leaving it there, because a flat refusal leaves her exactly where she was. The least effective response is sending the twelve cases to your team leader to reallocate without telling her: the request is escalated over her head, so she is blindsided and the conversation you could have had is now a management one. That is going around a colleague rather than being too soft or too hard. The principle: say it to her, then take the allocation where it belongs, together.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a personal banking assistant. A customer’s son has power of attorney and has moved £30,000 out of her account this month. She has come in confused about her balance. You must not discuss your suspicions, and a review has already been raised. She trusts her son completely. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Go through the transactions with her plainly so she can see what has left and when, and ask whether she is happy with each of them.
   2. Assure her that everything on the account is perfectly in order, so that she is not upset, and leave the review to reach whatever conclusion it reaches in its own time.
   3. Suggest to her directly that her son may well be taking money that he should not be taking, so that she understands what the pattern of payments on the account actually looks like.
   4. Tell her there is a review under way and that you cannot discuss the transactions with her until it has been completed and somebody contacts her.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Go through the transactions with her plainly so she can see what has left and when, and ask whether she is happy with each of them.

   Least effective: B. Assure her that everything on the account is perfectly in order, so that she is not upset, and leave the review to reach whatever conclusion it reaches in its own time.

   B: Tells her the account is in order when a review says otherwise: she leaves reassured, and the one person who could question the payments has been told there is nothing to question.

   C: States a suspicion as a conclusion: it is not yours to reach, and it may wreck a family relationship over payments she authorised.

   D: Withholds her own account information: she is entitled to see her transactions, and refusing them makes the visit useless to her.

   The most effective response is to go through the transactions with her plainly so she can see what has left and when, and ask whether she is happy with each: she is entitled to her own transactions, seeing them is what lets her form her own view, and the question opens the door without accusing anybody. It beats telling her a review is under way and that you cannot discuss the transactions until it finishes, because a review does not remove her right to see her account. It beats suggesting to her that her son may be taking money he should not, because the conclusion is not yours to draw. The least effective response is assuring her everything on the account is perfectly in order: she is told it is fine when it is under review, so the one person who could question the payments is actively reassured. That is a false statement rather than an unhelpfully narrow or overreaching one. The principle: show her the facts and let her ask the question.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a research assistant. A chart you produced last month has a scale error that makes a decline look like growth. It was used in a pitch to a client three weeks ago, which the firm won. Nobody has questioned it. The same chart is in the pack for a second client next week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Raise it directly with the colleague who presented the pitch, and leave it to him to decide whether your manager needs to be told about the chart.
   2. Correct the chart quietly in next week's pack, without telling anybody that the version used in the pitch three weeks ago showed a decline as though it were growth.
   3. Correct next week's pack and mention the earlier pitch to your manager at your next scheduled catch-up in a fortnight's time.
   4. Tell your manager today about the error, both where it has already been used and where it is about to be used again, and correct next week's pack now.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell your manager today about the error, both where it has already been used and where it is about to be used again, and correct next week's pack now.

   Least effective: B. Correct the chart quietly in next week's pack, without telling anybody that the version used in the pitch three weeks ago showed a decline as though it were growth.

   A: Gives the decision to the person with most reason to bury it: he presented the wrong chart to a client he won.

   B: Withholds where the error has already been: a client made a decision on a chart that pointed the wrong way, and the only person who knows has fixed the future and left the past.

   C: Delays the half that matters most: the client who has already acted is the exposure, and a fortnight is a long time on that.

   The most effective response is to tell your manager today about the error, both where it has already been used and where it is about to be used again, and correct next week’s pack now: both exposures go to her together, and the fixable one is fixed the same day. It beats correcting next week’s pack and mentioning the earlier pitch at your catch-up in a fortnight, because that delay on a client who has already acted is the real risk. It beats raising it with the colleague who presented the pitch and leaving him to decide whether your manager hears, because the presenter is the last person who should make that call. The least effective response is correcting the chart quietly in next week’s pack and telling nobody about the pitch: the future is repaired and a client who decided on a reversed chart is left where they are, with only one person knowing. That is silence about the part that matters rather than slowness or misrouting. The principle: fix forwards and disclose backwards, on the same day.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a settlements assistant. A change next month means one client’s trades will settle a day later than they do now, which will cost them a small amount of interest each time. The change is decided and cannot be altered. Nobody has told the client. Their relationship manager is on leave for two weeks. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell the client that nothing about their settlement arrangements is changing, since the difference is small and the relationship manager can explain it properly when she is back.
   2. Telephone the client yourself today and explain the change, since somebody should tell them and you are the person who understands the detail.
   3. Wait for the relationship manager to come back and give her the details then, so the client hears it from the person who deals with them.
   4. Write up what changes, what it costs the client and when it starts, and send it to the relationship manager's cover today so the client can be told before it happens.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Write up what changes, what it costs the client and when it starts, and send it to the relationship manager's cover today so the client can be told before it happens.

   Least effective: A. Tell the client that nothing about their settlement arrangements is changing, since the difference is small and the relationship manager can explain it properly when she is back.

   A: Denies a change you know is coming: the client plans on it, and when the first trade settles late they will have been told the opposite by name.

   B: Bypasses the relationship: a cover exists, and a client hearing a cost increase from an unfamiliar voice will ask questions you cannot answer.

   C: Delays past the event: two weeks is most of the notice available, and the change may land before she returns.

   The most effective response is to write up what changes, what it costs the client and when it starts, and send it to the relationship manager’s cover today: the cover can act now, the client gets notice before the first late settlement, and the person with the relationship still delivers it. It beats waiting for the relationship manager to come back and giving her the details then, because two weeks of the notice period is spent waiting. It beats telephoning the client yourself today, because a cold call about a cost increase raises questions you are not placed to handle. The least effective response is telling the client nothing about their settlement arrangements is changing: they are told the opposite of what is about to happen, and plan around a fact you know to be false. That is a false statement rather than a poorly routed message. The principle: get the news to somebody who can deliver it, in time for it to be notice.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a purchase ledger clerk. A supplier will stop a delivery unless a £12,000 invoice is paid today. It needs your manager’s approval and she is in hospital appointments all day. Her deputy is not set up in the system. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Process the £12,000 invoice today without waiting for any approval at all, since the delivery stops otherwise and your manager would certainly have approved it if she had been reachable.
   2. Let the delivery be stopped and process the invoice tomorrow when your manager is back, since the approval genuinely cannot be given today at all.
   3. Ask the deputy to approve it verbally and process it on her say-so, then have your manager confirm the approval in the system when she returns tomorrow.
   4. Telephone your manager between her appointments to ask how she wants it handled, and tell the supplier what is happening and when you will be coming back to them with an answer.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Telephone your manager between her appointments to ask how she wants it handled, and tell the supplier what is happening and when you will be coming back to them with an answer.

   Least effective: A. Process the £12,000 invoice today without waiting for any approval at all, since the delivery stops otherwise and your manager would certainly have approved it if she had been reachable.

   A: Releases a payment the control says must be approved: £12,000 moves on one person's confidence about what somebody else would have said, which is the exact judgement an approval exists to take out of your hands.

   B: Accepts the consequence without testing it: nobody has asked your manager whether she can take two minutes between appointments.

   C: Records an approval that has not been given: the deputy is not set up precisely so that her say-so is not an approval.

   The most effective response is to telephone your manager between her appointments to ask how she wants it handled, and tell the supplier what is happening and when you will come back: two minutes of her time settles it, hospital appointments have gaps, and the supplier can be managed meanwhile. It beats letting the delivery be stopped and processing it tomorrow when she is back, because nobody has tried to reach her. It beats asking the deputy to approve it verbally and having your manager confirm it in the system tomorrow, because a verbal say-so from somebody without system access is not an approval. The least effective response is processing the £12,000 invoice today with no approval at all: money leaves without the approval the control requires, on one person’s confidence about what somebody else would have said. That is setting the control aside rather than working around its edges. The principle: when the approver cannot be reached, the deadline is what gives way, never the control.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a payments assistant. A large client payment has failed and the client’s finance director needs to know within the hour. The approved route is through their relationship manager, who is on a flight. You have the finance director’s mobile number on a file you are not supposed to use for contact details. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Call the relationship manager's team now for another contact route, and tell your manager the clock so somebody with authority can decide how to reach the client.
   2. Take the finance director's mobile number from the file and telephone him directly, since he needs to know within the hour and the number is right there in front of you.
   3. Ask a colleague to telephone the client's main switchboard and try to reach the finance director without saying what it is about.
   4. Email the relationship manager and wait for her to land, since she is the approved route and the client is hers to contact.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Call the relationship manager's team now for another contact route, and tell your manager the clock so somebody with authority can decide how to reach the client.

   Least effective: B. Take the finance director's mobile number from the file and telephone him directly, since he needs to know within the hour and the number is right there in front of you.

   B: Uses a record for a purpose it is not permitted for: the restriction exists whatever the reason, and urgency is exactly the circumstance it was written to cover.

   C: Sends somebody to make a call they cannot explain: a vague approach from an unnamed colleague will not reach him inside an hour.

   D: Follows the route past the deadline: an hour is the whole window and a flight is longer than that.

   The most effective response is to call the relationship manager’s team now for another contact route, and tell your manager the clock so somebody with authority can decide how to reach the client: her team almost certainly has another route, and your manager can authorise whatever is needed if it does not. It beats emailing the relationship manager and waiting for her to land, because the flight is longer than the hour. It beats asking a colleague to ring the client’s switchboard without saying what it is about, because a call nobody can explain will not get through. The least effective response is taking the finance director’s mobile number from the file and telephoning him directly: contact details are used from a source you are specifically not permitted to use for that, on your own judgement that the circumstances justify it. That is breaching a stated restriction rather than being too slow or too indirect. The principle: when the approved route will not make the deadline, get authority for another one.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are an audit associate. Two schedules are due to your manager by Friday and each takes a day. It is Wednesday morning. A colleague uses the first one on Thursday to start his own testing; the second is only read at the Friday review. Nobody has told you which order to do them in. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do the schedule your colleague needs first so that his Thursday is not lost, then finish the second one on Thursday in good time for the Friday review.
   2. Ask your manager on Thursday morning which of the two she would rather have first, and work on neither of them until she has come back to you.
   3. Start with the schedule for the Friday review and leave the other until Thursday afternoon, without telling your colleague that his testing will not be able to start.
   4. Split Wednesday and Thursday between the two schedules so that both of them are partly done by the time the Friday review comes round.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Do the schedule your colleague needs first so that his Thursday is not lost, then finish the second one on Thursday in good time for the Friday review.

   Least effective: C. Start with the schedule for the Friday review and leave the other until Thursday afternoon, without telling your colleague that his testing will not be able to start.

   B: Spends a day of a two-day budget on a question with an evident answer: one schedule has somebody waiting on it and the other does not.

   C: Costs a colleague a day without warning him: he plans Thursday around a schedule that will not arrive, and the person who knew that on Wednesday says nothing.

   D: Splits effort so nothing finishes: two half-schedules on Friday morning are worth less than one complete one, and his Thursday is lost either way.

   The most effective response is to do the schedule your colleague needs first so his Thursday is not lost, then finish the second on Thursday for the Friday review: only one of the two has a person waiting behind it, both still land by Friday, and nothing is lost. It beats asking your manager on Thursday morning which she would rather have first, because a whole day goes on a question whose answer is on the page. It beats splitting Wednesday and Thursday between the two, because two unfinished schedules help nobody. The least effective response is starting with the Friday review schedule and not telling your colleague his testing cannot start: he loses a day he has planned around, and the one person who could have told him on Wednesday says nothing. That is silence about something he needed rather than a defensible ordering. The principle: when your order costs somebody else a day, they hear about it before the day starts.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are an accounts assistant. A supplier payment run has to be approved by 3pm or the supplier will not be paid until Monday, and they have said they will hold a delivery until they are. It is 2:15pm. A colleague asks you to reformat last month’s expenses spreadsheet, which is wanted for a meeting next week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Start on the expenses spreadsheet and leave the payment run alone until it is done, on the grounds that somebody more senior would have said something if the 3pm deadline really mattered today.
    2. Ask a colleague to take the payment run so that you can make a proper start on the expenses spreadsheet while the request is still fresh in your mind.
    3. Get the payment run approved before 3pm, then tell your colleague you will reformat the expenses spreadsheet afterwards and give them a time when it will be with them.
    4. Work on the expenses spreadsheet and the payment run in turn through the afternoon, giving each of them a few minutes at a time, so that your colleague sees progress and the payment is not left untouched.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: C. Get the payment run approved before 3pm, then tell your colleague you will reformat the expenses spreadsheet afterwards and give them a time when it will be with them.

    Least effective: A. Start on the expenses spreadsheet and leave the payment run alone until it is done, on the grounds that somebody more senior would have said something if the 3pm deadline really mattered today.

    A: Assumes the deadline away: nobody has been asked and nothing has been checked, so a delivery is put at risk on the strength of a silence that means nothing at all.

    B: Hands off the urgent job: the deadline stays yours, and the harder task goes to somebody who has not been following it, to protect work that is not wanted until next week.

    D: Splits effort so nothing finishes: the payment run needs a clear run at it before 3pm, and alternating is the one approach that risks missing a deadline nothing else in the day competes with.

    The most effective response is to get the payment run approved before 3pm, then tell your colleague you will reformat the expenses spreadsheet afterwards and give them a time: 3pm is the only fixed point in the day, the spreadsheet is wanted next week, and a word means they are not left wondering. It beats working on both in turn through the afternoon, because dividing the next forty-five minutes is exactly how the payment run misses 3pm. It beats asking a colleague to take the payment run so you can start the spreadsheet, because moving the urgent work to somebody unfamiliar with it buys time on a task nothing is waiting for. The least effective response is starting on the expenses spreadsheet and leaving the payment run on the assumption that somebody would have said if 3pm mattered: it puts a delivery at risk on a premise nobody was asked to confirm. That is avoidance rather than a defensible ordering of work. The principle: protect the deadline the outside world is holding you to, and tell the person whose work waits.