If you hold a higher variant bank account, you're probably familiar with the term "relationship manager" (RM). Banks assign RMs to customers with premium accounts and good average balances. They often showcase a long list of benefits for having an RM and push you to upgrade your account. But do we really receive the services banks promise? Let's break it down.
What is a Relationship Manager?
An RM is supposed to handle your banking needs. Most banks assign RMs to higher-tier accounts. For example, if you have a HDFC Classic, Preferred, or Imperia account, you’ll get an RM. The same goes for Axis Burgundy, ICICI Wealth Management, or similar accounts in other banks.
What Are the Benefits of a Relationship Manager?
Well, this depends on the bank and the account variant you hold, but generally, you’ll get the following benefits. I've listed a few examples from HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Kotak, and IDFC First Bank.
- Priority Banking at the branch: Whenever you visit the branch, your RM will attend to you on priority and resolve your query.
- Managing your investments: Your RM will help manage your funds, guiding you to invest in better places so you can earn higher returns.
- Home Banking Facility: If you need home banking, your RM will personally visit or arrange it for you.
- Updating you with the latest market trends: Your RM is trained to understand market conditions and provide investment advice.
- On-call solutions: Sometimes, for small queries, we need to visit the branch, but with an RM, you can call them and get your issue resolved over the phone, or they'll handle it for you.
These are the basic duties of a relationship manager, and banks actively advertise these services, encouraging customers to upgrade to wealth management accounts or programs.
But Do You Really Get These Services?
Absolutely not. Here’s why:
- You are supposed to get priority banking at the branch, but the reality is that as long as you maintain a good balance in your account, the branch manager will come to serve you. You don't need an RM or a higher variant account for this. However, if your balance is low, even if you have an RM with a higher variant account, you won't be given any priority.
- Relationship managers are supposedly assigned to manage your wealth, but this is the joke of the century. I’ve said this many times, and I’ll say it again: RMs are assigned to make a profit off you. They don’t care about growing your wealth; they just want to sell you products that earn them and the bank huge commissions. They aren’t qualified investment bankers; they’re just sales agents for your bank.
- The home banking facility offered by your RM, as mentioned earlier in point 1, only happens if you maintain a good balance. The RM might visit your home, but mainly to sell you a new product. If you don't buy it, they won't help you when you actually need something. They’ll try to avoid you.
- If your RM is pushing you to invest in ULIPs or traditional plans, then either they know nothing about the market and investments, or they just don’t care about your money.
- If you need something and call your RM, you'll only get help if you have a good personal relationship with them. RMs sometimes ask you to make a fixed deposit (FD) or recurring deposit (RD) for a few days or maintain a higher balance for a short time. If you follow their requests, you’ll likely get good service from them because, for them, it’s just a give-and-take situation.
What Do You Really Get from an RM?
- Your RM will call you 5 to 7 days before the month or quarter ends, asking you to transfer funds from your account in another bank to your account in their bank.
- Your RM will visit your home multiple times a year to push you into investing in ULIPs and other poor-performing traditional insurance plans.
- In March, they’ll become so desperate to sell you an insurance/ULIP policy that they’ll promise you anything—literally anything. For example, an HDFC Bank RM might promise you an Infinia credit card with a 20L limit if you buy a policy in March. But by April 1st at 12:01 AM, they’ll have completely forgotten their promise.
- Sometimes, your RM will call you with a sob story, saying they can’t go home unless they manage a certain amount of FD or RD today, and ask if you can help them out...
I don't know if you'll ever get the benefits your bank promises from having an RM, but I can guarantee you'll experience the four things mentioned above if you have one. I’ve personally dealt with multiple RMs from different banks, and I can assure you almost all RMs are the same. I’ve seen many people get emotionally attached to their bankers. While it's not a bad thing to be kind, from my experience, you should be cautious with your banker. They work for the bank and focus on making money for it. They generally don’t care much about your financial well-being or interests.
Your Experience?
Share your experience with your RM. Did they actually help you get anything, like a credit card you weren’t eligible for or a locker that wasn’t available?
