Balancing digital and human touch for wealth managers & private banks

Wealth management has changed dramatically. If your private bank isn’t fully equipped to meet clients' expectations across all generations — from tech-savvy Millennials and Gen Z to more traditional clients — you risk losing market share to competitors who are better prepared. It’s not just about staying relevant; it’s about ensuring your bank thrives in a rapidly evolving market.

In my recent session at Backbase ENGAGE Europe, I discussed the delicate balancing act private banks face today: providing personalized, high-touch advisory services while offering the kind of seamless digital experiences expected by younger clients. 

Fortunately, there’s a way to bridge this gap effectively. The Backbase Engagement Banking Platform enables private banks to combine the best of both worlds: the immediacy and efficiency of digital, paired with the bespoke human advice that’s been the cornerstone of wealth management for decades.

Private banking clients today expect a highly personalized experience, but how do you deliver this at scale? That’s where Backbase’s platform comes in, helping wealth managers and private banks offer tailored, meaningful interactions across both digital and in-person channels. 

Let’s break down three common challenges that our platform solves:

1. Providing digital engagement without losing the personal touch

Younger clients increasingly want self-service options. Research shows that 70% of high-net-worth individuals under 45 prefer to manage their investments digitally. But these clients still expect quick access to expert advice when needed. With our platform, your clients can easily manage their portfolios digitally, while seamlessly transitioning to human advisors for high-value, personalized advice — all within the same app. This means your relationship managers stay in control of the client experience but spend less time on administrative tasks and more time building relationships.

2. Retaining clients amid generational wealth transfer

The generational transfer of wealth is a pressing concern for private banks. While many firms focus heavily on serving today’s ultra-high-net-worth individuals, they often overlook the importance of appealing to the next generation, who will soon inherit this wealth. Our platform helps you capture this opportunity by providing the flexible, digital-first experiences that younger clients demand. With pre-configured digital investment products, robo-advisory services, and tailored financial planning tools, you can start building relationships with future high-net-worth clients today.

3. Empowering relationship managers with smarter tools

A key element of success in private banking is keeping your advisors happy and productive. After all, if a relationship manager leaves, they can take a significant portion of their book of business with them. Our platform gives your advisors a 360° view of their clients, from investment portfolios to real-time engagement data, so they can provide highly personalized advice with less effort. By automating administrative tasks and enabling advisors to act quickly based on real-time insights, your team can focus on what they do best: growing assets under management and retaining valuable clients.

Backbase’s Engagement Banking Platform gives you the tools to deliver premium service across all touchpoints — whether digital or human. With over 400 modular capabilities, our platform allows you to customize client journeys, automate routine processes, and empower your advisors. Most importantly, it positions your private bank to retain current clients while also growing share of wallet with new generations.

This is just the beginning. If you’re ready to future-proof your private banking services and win the loyalty of both traditional and modern clients, the time to act is now.