Demystifying the private bank: A clear view of what private banking is, and what it should be

By Mark Thompson, Regional Managing Director, Citizens Private Bank

Wealth rarely grows along a single, straight path. It’s built through business creation, shaped by family dynamics and preserved through thoughtful planning, with each stage requiring a different kind of banking support.

When personal and business balance sheets begin to demand more customized and holistic banking solutions, many traditional banking relationships fall short. Traditional bank services are often too transactional, too fragmented, or too focused on products.

Private banking is designed to serve affluent clients with complex balance sheets. Yet private banking can be misunderstood. What does a private bank actually do? Who is it for? And how should it operate to deliver value?

To help demystify private banking, this article will define its core elements and present a framework for what a modern private bank should be. Along the way, we’ll highlight how Citizens Private Bank is building a model designed for clients with significant wealth, complex financial lives, and a need for integrated support.

Why private banking?

Recognizing that many clients are simultaneously building companies, managing family finances, and preparing for future transitions, a private bank is built to provide customized, integrated banking that incorporates all aspects of your wealth.

Who is private banking for?

Private banks serve executives, entrepreneurs, multi-generational families, and other clients whose financial lives may include personal and business interests. These clients often face complex decisions involving ownership structures, succession planning, liquidity management, and cross-generational wealth transfer.

The right experts, always within reach

As wealth grows, so does its complexity. Clients may hold concentrated stock positions, private investments, or operate across multiple jurisdictions and entities, introducing challenges that span legal, tax, investment, and lending.

Traditional banking models, and even ad hoc advisory services, often struggle to coordinate expertise across these disciplines.

In private banking, clients are served by a team of specialists that may include experts in planning, structuring, investing, insurance, and lending. For clients with international assets, these specialists collaborate to deliver cross-border estate and tax planning, addressing complex jurisdictional needs. This coordinated model replaces fragmented advice with integrated support, helping clients make better decisions.

At the center of this model is the relationship manager, acting as quarterback by leading the team of specialists and delivering expert guidance through one trusted relationship —

How private banks operate today: The dedicated relationship management model

At Citizens Private Bank, each client is paired with a dedicated relationship manager who serves as a long-term strategic partner, with deep knowledge of the client’s financial life.

Relationship managers take the time to understand goals, values, and the dynamics that shape both personal and business decisions. This depth enables seamless coordination across traditional banking services, such as deposits and lending and wealth management services offered through Citizens Private Wealth.

The relationship manager quarterbacks the team of specialists to deliver cohesive, personalized guidance, whether the client is financing a business expansion, planning a family transition, or exploring philanthropy. This single point-of-contact model saves clients time, builds trust and continuity, and enables coordinated planning.

Integrated services across the balance sheet

Citizens Private Bank provides integration across all areas of the client’s financial life and delivers this through a suite of services designed to work in concert:

• Wealth management services offered in partnership with Citizens Private Wealth.
• Tax-aware strategies that incorporates estate and multigenerational wealth transfer strategies, ownership structures, and jurisdictional considerations.
• Lending solutions for real estate, business expansion, and liquidity access.
• Deposit services that provide secure, convenient access to liquidity and support cash management across personal and business accounts.
• Balance sheet support that spans both personal and business assets, ensuring alignment across entities and generations.

Critical support for liquidity events

Major financial events, such as a business sale, equity monetization, or inheritance, require rigorous planning, tight timelines, and coordinated execution. A private banking relationship ensures access to timely advice, tailored solutions, and multi-disciplinary expertise at the most critical times.

Clients should have confidence that financial milestones will be handled with superior execution, and that expert guidance will help build and protect wealth between these turning points.

What to look for in a private bank

We believe private banking should be a relationship-driven model built to support significant wealth across personal and business domains. But not all private banks deliver equally on this mandate. Choosing the right partner matters.

Here are some of the qualities that distinguish a standout private bank —

Specialized expertise: Clients with significant wealth face unique challenges and deserve timely access to the right experts. An effective private bank:

• Understands the client’s business and industry, with experienced teams in private equity, venture capital, tech, healthcare, real estate, and more.
• Demonstrates experience with equity compensation, succession, and liquidity issues.
• Calibrates advice to the scale and complexity of wealth.

Holistic access: When wealth includes complex interests, clients need unified access to services. A private bank should:

• Avoid siloed service models.
• Provide unified access to lending, planning, deposit services, and banking.
• Integrate across personal and business interests, especially for families with operating businesses.

Continuity and culture: Long-term relationships thrive when a private bank’s culture aligns with the client’s values and expectations. A strong cultural foundation should:

• Align institutional values with client values.
• Prioritize stability in advisor relationships.
• Emphasize that service and transparency build trust.

Trust, transparency, and communication: Trust is earned through clear communication, discretion, and a deep understanding of the client’s world. A standout private bank should:

• Articulate fees, performance, and strategy with clarity.
• Respond at the speed the client operates.
• Ensure confidentiality in every action.
• Facilitate candid conversations about succession, ownership, and family dynamics.

Technology and access: Technology should never replace the human relationship, but digital tools can offer ease and access. The private bank’s technology should:

• Enhance transparency and control.
• Provide secure, user-friendly interfaces that complement high-touch service.
• Support execution reliably and simply.

The Citizens difference

Citizens Private Bank is purpose-built to deliver the kind of private banking experience that clients with complex financial lives require. With knowledgeable relationship managers and a deep bench of expertise, we’re positioned to help clients build lasting financial strength.

Ready to begin a conversation about how Citizens Private Bank can support your unique banking and financial needs? Let’s connect.