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Comment by discordance | Hacker News Reader

What unique services does a bank like this offer it’s clients?

All the staff you interact with have been to the same handful of British public schools (ie private fee schools) so you never have to talk to someone who is ignorant of precisely your standing in the British class system and they will all speak with comforting RP, follow the cricket, and drop an occasional Latin phrase into the conversation. Banking service is basically as shite as all the rest. [source: I ran a company that for very strange reasons ended up having to use them for business banking services]

"RP" explained for oiks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation

Think William Reece-Mogg, not Dick van Dyke.

> Think William Reece-Mogg

FYI not sure about other countries, but Americans don't know who the fuck that is.

"There even are places where English completely disappears. In America, they haven't used it for years!” ― Alan Jay Lerner, My Fair Lady

https://youtu.be/t8zhp699FXg?t=110

And yet there are places in America whose regional accents are closer to English was at the time those places were settled than Britain is now.

Even more ironic is that My Fair Lady is an American film based on a play by an Irish Brit (George Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion).

I think it's ironic that language which is used as the primary form of communication for one's whole life still requires training in University.

Perhaps there truly is no such thing as proper English.

Partly because his name is actually Rees-Mogg

Name's misspelt, it's Rees-Mogg. This is his son, same speech pattern they're talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4uCHNaNbmU

Agreed. Looked him up and sti ll don't know who he ism

More Jacob Rees-Mogg than William - it’s important that there be absolutely no discernible substance, skill or wit behind the voice.

> What unique services does a bank like this offer it’s clients?

No clue about Coutt’s. But for a top-tier private bank, you have someone you can contact 24/7 (if not them personally, someone you know on their team) to help you. You can effortlessly escalate to the bank’s senior leadership when problems arise.

As a result, having cash overnighted in the event of a lost wallet, cabs paid for over the phone on the firm’s account, or international wires processed instantly and without fees happen. (Also, Formula 1 tickets and access to the firm’s Parterre box at the Met, as well as, for the up and coming, introductions to the bank’s other clients.)

Well, not on the same level, but my dad used to have an account with a small bank in our town, and as a business owner he could literally walk in and speak to the owner of the bank within 10 minutes tops. Any issues with his accounts or international payments, there was an employee(usually the same one) looking into it personally.

It was just a lot more personal service than any large bank could ever offer.

I imagine this is exactly the same, just on a bigger scale.

Growing up, a friend's dad ran a couple of fast food franchises. As teenagers, we talked a lot to the dad about his business, and he was more than happy to impart his business wisdom on youngsters. Anyway, he told us he banked with the local bank in town rather than any of the regional or national banks for just that reason. He could walk in and talk to the top guy whenever he wanted. The top guy understood his financial situation completely, and would easily make arrangements the big banks would take weeks to make, if ever.

My brother did the same thing when he started his businesses, and I've moved to it over time. It's hard to beat talking to a banker who understands what you're doing and is actually there to help you.

First thing that comes to mind is that a bank like this is probably going to have a much better developed wealth management offering than mainstream commercial banks. The sort that helps you diversify into art rather than real estate, sort of thing.

For starters, you won't run into any of those poors when visiting one of their branches.

Well with the number of branch closures (atleast here in the UK) that is becoming an non-issue for everyone :-p

The warm feeling that they don’t waste time dealing with the peasants.

You pay for service, for, service, flexibility, and and advice.

Service= a dedicated banker with whom you can call directly with issues/problems

Flexibility= Custom solutions / humans in the loop decisions. E.g. I know someone who was able to procure a 90 day bridge loan implying dizzying leverage as he was buying a business and buying + selling a primary residence because he was able to sit down with someone, walk through the merits with a human underwriter.

Advice= Conduit of multitudes of expert opinions around insurance, tax, estate planning etc.

Lack of scalability. It’s a person checking your transactions for possible fraud, not just an algorithm.

A relationship with a banker that will cater to your needs at your request. They also know who you are and are prepared to help you with loans based on your relationship more than just a plain algorithm.

Even if there were no unique services that doesn't matter. The key metric for a bank is trust.

It doesn't consort with the poor. Some think that's a service.

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