I’ve no idea about Harry - to be fair, I think he has posted photos of his Private Banking cards previously? That being said, there are certainly some Walter Mitty types on this community. There are also a couple of people clearly posting under multiple accounts - it’s easy enough to spot.
This is just a fact of internet forums, they will always attract one or two of that type. If anything, it’s so obvious with some of them, that it does have significant entertainment value.
It’s best to just take people at face value on forums. A significant percentage of what is posted will always be BS. It’s best considered a form of entertainment rather than news - a bit like the Daily Mail really.
There is little point in calling people out or naming them, even if you suspect them. Life is far too short. If they need validation from random people online, just let them be. Enjoy the content!
I’ve often wondered… with private banks and those sorts of balances, are you still subject to the same card fraud blocks and other annoyances? I’m assuming they look at your history and allow you to spend quite freely, without hindrance?
But do private banks safeguard your funds above the £85,000 FSCS limit. Cuz otherwise why would you want to store any more than the FSCS limit with them.
I would use the term “strongly suspect”. I won’t call people out, I will just end up getting attacked by all of their allies. As I said, just let people be. All is fine
The term ‘private banking’ is kinda weird when you think about it. It’s not as if the alternative is a ‘state bank’ is it? (at least in this country)
Also, wikipedia tells me a private bank is ‘owned by an individual or the general partners […] not incorporated’, yet people are talking about HSBC (which is definitely incorporated - it’s in the name!). What does ‘private banking’ actually mean these days?
The fraud works exactly the same way as banks have to protect their clients.
However, to remove an unnecessary issues if I know I’m going to make a transaction on my current account that’s above my normal spending habit I will certainly notify the bank.
My credit/charge card however I don’t see the need to.
I think anyone with that kind of money would want to keep it in a bank that is unlikely to fail. Spreading £1.5m in £85k chunks would require 18 banks.
If I had to sum it up it would be they offer bespoke financial services to High Net Work (HNW) and Ultra High Net Worth clients (UHNW).
Different products and services as opposed to retail banking to suit their needs. They often have branches in more than one jurisdiction and can assist with tax planning and wealth management.
Doesn’t really matter for cash - to have any reasonable liquidity your exposure is with one of the large correspondent banks (most likely a bulge bracket bank or very large British/American commercial banks). I doubt any small bank will be able to survive without state assistance if one of those goes bust.
For securities, it’s a different issue - some private banks can act solely as custodians with fully segregated registration rather than custodians + nominees. If it’s the former, your positions won’t form a part of the bankruptcy estate. UBS even pays you if you choose them as your nominee and let them hypothecate your securities.
The majority won’t offer cards at all. The ones that do would most likely white label either their retail or commercial cards (respective normal fraud prevention mechanisms will apply). A few would not have any restrictions apart from the overall limit. Travelling with one can be a bit of a gamble.
It’s one of the ways the Centurion card makes sense - 1) does not identify where you bank, 2) could actually assess your income/assets, 3) you can speak to their credit/risk teams and get an idea of where different levels are.
What is the advantage of having several accounts in multiple locations ? Surely your personal private banker can arrange everything for you anywhere ? Say as a client of JPM WM London you can surely access any product/offering in Asia and elsewhere, as JPM WM must be present in every big wealth center ?
Another question (genuinely curious): if you are say a CEO, or a business owner, with your own management team including lawyers, financial specialists, etc… whom you can ask for advice anytime, don’t you find that sometimes you know more than your private banker…? Making it harder to justify his fee.
I suspect you split up your wealth into several institutions, investments, etc. Keep some of it as liquid cash and maybe other bits as property? No idea.
Or just go on Wikipedia and find as many banks as you need and put 85k in each. However, you’d find your money devaluing itself (fiat) year on year, as the rates were shit.
