The Know Series – What is Private Banking?
Private banking involves financial services that banks offer to private individuals who invest in sizable assets. This ensures that the customer is offered a personal touch than is the case with the normal retail banking. This is usually done through well qualified and dedicated banking advisors and in a very exclusive manner. A bank’s private banking section will offer numerous services such as wealth investment, inheritance and tax planning, savings among others. The high-end form of private banking is often termed as wealth management.
In wealth management, private banking help build relationships through first of all understanding the customer’s financial needs and then endeavor to best solutions fit for the prevailing financial situation. A customer is also assisted on how to develop and protect wealth both for now and for generations to come. The impacts of wealth are also managed. This includes if one intends to buy a house or relocating to overseas as well as areas such as philanthropy, tax advisory, property investment and media.
One of the benefits of private banking is that one is assigned a bank manager who will always be at hand to offer financial advice when required. Most of the transactions can even be made over the phone, thus being spared the pain of standing in queues. It is however obvious that this privilege always comes at a cost. The cost depends on whether one is investing large amounts of money and other financial products. The higher the investment the higher the cost of advice and vice versa.
The fact that all the affairs in private banking are kept private is perhaps one of the great advantages of this kind of banking since it only involves the designated bank manager and the customer. Other staff might however step in at some point for cases such as signing of non-disclosure agreement.