What Questions Should You be Asking Your Private Banker?

November 4, 2022

Everyone needs banking services, but some people need more.

In the world of high net worth individuals, private bankers can be a godsend. Private banking services can involve a variety of services that the average bank customer simply doesn’t have access to. This includes lending, mortgage services, personal banking services, and more. Private banking gives high-wealth individuals access to the customized services that they need in order to maintain their wealth and appropriately manage complicated financial transactions.

What Are Some Examples of Private Banking Services?

Private banking services can encompass a variety of items that are vitally necessary to certain financial classes who need additional service. This includes:

• Lending services, including business loans that high-wealth individuals may need access to. This is more than just a loan that you can get at any bank – lending services provided by private banking services are more personalized, are provided with an understanding of your wealth portfolio and what you are trying to accomplish, as well as a holistic view of the financial products that best suit your needs.
• Depository services, including having the ability to meet your changing and complex financial needs. Private banking services should be able to protect your accounts, provide them with appropriate growth opportunities, and ensure that you have access to cash when you need it.
• Mortgage services, including those that allow you to leverage your personal wealth in order to make additional purchases or pay off additional debt. Private banking services should also be able to ensure that all of your loan and mortgage needs are being met, be it if you are making a first-time purchase or looking to buy additional homes.
• Personal banking services, including ensuring that you have access to all of your financial accounts and can easily manage and administer any of the complex financial products that you need.
• Risk management and insurance, which should complement your overall financial picture. You need to make sure that your money is protected and that you have appropriate insurance products that will protect your finances in the event of financial difficulties or amidst broader market movements.

Private Banking vs Wealth Management

As you can see, private banking services are able to provide specific financial services to high-wealth individuals. However, this can lead to some confusion: How does one make a comparison of private banking vs. wealth management? To be sure, private banking vs. wealth management is not an either-or proposition. The two complement each other and can help you develop a better grasp of your finances.

As you can see from above, private banking is designed to help you administer your finances, protect your overall financial products, and ensure that your financial needs are covered. It is meant to ensure that you can spend your money as you choose, access your money as you need, and ensure that you are doing everything necessary to protect your overall financial picture.

Wealth management means growing your money, not just accessing it. Wealth management is usually done by specifically trained financial planners who understand your goals and want to help you protect and expand your financial future. As such, wealth management seeks out the most appropriate ways to invest your money, keeping in mind your future financial goals and overall tolerance for risk.

Thus, when it comes to private banking vs. wealth management, there are subtle but important differences. However, the idea that private banking vs. wealth management work against each other simply isn’t true. A high-income individual will need both services in order to be truly successful and appropriately manage their money. Indeed, in many cases, wealth management and private banking work together.

What Questions Should You Ask?

Making a decision about what private banking services to use can be a difficult one, and a highly important one. As such, there are some things you need to ask any private banker. This includes:

• What services am I getting by using your private banking services that I wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere? What makes your private banking services better than those offered by others?
• How do you interact with my wealth management services?
• How can you help manage the divide between personal and business banking services, ensuring that my overall financial picture is considered when making any banking moves?
• What sorts of options would I have available in the event of a financial emergency? How quickly could I potentially tap a home equity loan or access a line of credit in the event that I needed one right away?
• How can you save me money? What sorts of products or services do you have available that I can access that could allow me to save money and use it in a more productive way?
• What sort of experience do you have at managing financial pictures that are similar to mine? Have you worked with individuals with a financial situation similar to myself and my business in the past?
• What sort of customer service options are available, and how quickly would I be able to access them? If I experienced some sort of financial emergency, how quickly could you help me resolve it? Would I have a dedicated account manager or banker who would be familiar with my specific financial situation, rather than just a generic firm that looked at my file every now and then?