Benefits of a personal banker
A personal advisor can help you with almost any question about banking services and can help you with anything that is unclear. Personal bankers can also give you tips on which services are best for you. However, when applying for a new service via your online banking, you are on your own. There are still many people who do not feel comfortable on the Internet and prefer personal communication.
Disadvantages of a personal banker
When considering the disadvantages of personal banking, there are two main reasons why online banking is preferable to visiting a personal banker in a branch. First, like any other industry, bank employees who work in the front office and meet their existing or potential customers on a daily basis are salespeople. This means your personal manager has sales quotas and most of his salary is based on commission. Personal bankers are evaluated primarily on their sales performance, and this is an important factor when branch managers consider potential promotions or job cuts. Ultimately, all personal managers will try to sell you as many banking services as possible, and if they are good salespeople, they will succeed. If you want to avoid aggressive sales strategies, you might even be well advised to keep branches away at the end of the month and especially at the end of the quarter.
Another disadvantage is the higher transaction costs compared to online banking. While the number of services offered is pretty much the same whether you use a personal banker or your online banking, banks very often offer two different prices for services depending on whether they are provided in-branch or online. Banks have to pay for branch upkeep, employee salaries, and other expenses, and these expenses are covered by the transaction fees you pay at the bank. Lower or no transaction fees are also used as a strategy to motivate customers to use their online banking as much as possible. Some banks are now even designed without branches and their services can only be reached via the Internet or by telephone.