“Private” has become a label banks hand out very generously. Cross a certain amount in your account and the service gets a new name, but behind the same word sit services that are worlds apart.
Between the first and the last level of private banking, three things change: who looks after you, what the bank is willing to do for you and how much it costs you every year.
Let’s go through the seven levels, roughly how much wealth you need to access each one, where almost everyone stops, and which level makes sense to aim for once you start from half a million upward.
Private banking: why there are no official thresholds
One premise needs to be made right away: in private banking there are no official thresholds. Every bank sets its own, and they change depending on the country you live in, where your funds come from and the service you’re asking for. The figures in this article are the ones we see in practice and should be read as orders of magnitude, not as price lists.
To make the levels comparable, for each one we answer the same five questions: how much you need to get in, who looks after you, what you get, what the limit is and who it isn’t suited to.
And even if your wealth is below half a million today, knowing the ladder before you climb it saves you from quite a few costly mistakes.
Levels 1 and 2: private banking at your local bank
Level 1: “label” private banking
It’s the private service you find at your own bank, in your own city. It’s usually offered once you go over a certain amount in your account: roughly between €250,000 and €500,000, though every bank has its own rule.
On paper you have a dedicated banker. In practice, at many banks that banker looks after more than a hundred clients, and their time goes to whoever brings in the most assets. What you get is somewhat lower fees, a better card and a direct phone number.
The limit is that the products remain the bank’s own and the relationship stays inside the branch: the name of the service changes, but the experience barely does. It isn’t suited to anyone who has already realized that a million sitting in one place deserves more than a new name on the contract.
Level 2: domestic private banking
The second level is domestic private banking proper. You often get in from one million upward, again with no fixed rule. And in fairness, many of these institutions do good work, with senior bankers, serious wealth management and someone who knows your family and perhaps your business too.
But now put yourself in the banker’s shoes. A large part of their pay depends on the bank’s own products they manage to place. So they’ll offer you in-house funds and mandates, with fees that often sit between 1.5% and 2% a year. And they’re unlikely to help you open a relationship with another bank abroad: for them, it would be like walking you out of their own shop.
The limit of this level is that everything stays in one country, in one currency and under a single regulator. And this is exactly where almost everyone who has built something stops, convinced they’ve arrived. One principle is worth keeping in mind: your money is a citizen of the place where you put it.
Levels 3 and 4: private banking outside your country
Level 3: the private divisions of large international groups
With the third level you leave your country. We’re talking about the private divisions of the large international banking groups, in Switzerland, Singapore and London: a global platform, access to more markets and more currencies, a bank with offices across half the world.
Thresholds here vary enormously. Some divisions accept clients from €500,000 or one million; the most selective, for those who approach them on their own, can ask for CHF 2 to 5 million, sometimes more for full discretionary management.
The limit is that, for an organization this large, you’re one of many. The service is excellent, but it remains fairly standardized. And a big name doesn’t automatically mean the best bank: in March 2023 Credit Suisse, a bank with 167 years of history, was rescued over a single weekend and absorbed by a competitor. Its clients found themselves, from one Monday to the next, at a bank they hadn’t chosen.
Level 4: the pure private bank
The fourth level is that of pure private banks: more niche institutions, some with centuries of history, in some cases still owned by the partners who work inside them. Here the banker knows you by name, answers you directly and, when you move a significant amount, already knows where it comes from and why.
Its strength is the relationship: stability, attention, decisions made by people you can actually meet. The limit varies from bank to bank. Some have invested heavily in digital, others have stayed more traditional, and anyone who needs to make wire transfers every day for their business notices quickly. It’s an ideal level for safeguarding and growing wealth, less suited as the only account for a company’s day-to-day operations.
The detail that changes the thresholds: the channel you come through
It’s the aspect almost nobody sees, and it’s the most important on the whole ladder: the thresholds of the third and fourth levels change depending on the channel you come through.
If you send a request on your own, you end up in a screening process where you’re a name on a form, and when in doubt the bank says no. The reason is simple: these are institutions with at least a century of history, they don’t need marketing and they serve families who have passed the account down for generations. For them, letting in an unknown client is riskier than keeping the ones they already know.
If instead you come through an introducer with a written agreement with the bank, your profile is read by a director, with a different level of attention.
(The final decision, along with KYC and due diligence, always remains with the bank.)
On your own, one of the most selective Swiss private banks can ask for millions; with a GloboBanks introduction, in several cases the starting point is CHF 250,000–500,000. If you have at least half a million to place, the team offers a confidential pre-assessment of your profile.
Request your confidential pre-assessment.
Level 5: multi-jurisdiction private banking
The fifth level is the one almost everyone gets wrong. It has no public threshold, because no bank sells it as a product: you build it by combining two or three private relationships in different countries, each with a precise role.
One bank for cash, meaning the liquidity that must always be available. One for long-term investments. And, if you have a company, one for operations. In different currencies and under different regulators.
How it works in practice
Imagine selling a stake in your company and receiving €800,000 in a single week. At the second level, it’s your bank that calls you, to offer you its funds. At the fifth level, you’re the one calling your banker: “800,000 is coming in from the sale, I’ll send you the contract, and let’s move 300,000 to the Singapore relationship as a dollar reserve.” No freeze and no surprise questions, because that bank has known you from day one.
There’s also a detail that’s hard to find online. Some Swiss private banks have their own offices in Singapore and Hong Kong too, and can serve the same family across several financial centers with the same relationship manager. We know because we sit down with their directors every week.
It’s the direction many seven-figure fortunes are already moving in. Henley & Partners forecast a record 142,000 millionaires ready to change country in 2025. What we see, though, is that people often stay where they are: what moves is part of their money.
The limit is coordination. Two or three banks, in different countries, each with its own way of running checks: putting them together on your own costs time and a few rejections.
This is the banking setup we’ve built for several clients with wealth between 1 and 5 million, and every situation changes something.
Levels 6 and 7: wealth management and family office
Level 6: wealth management for very large fortunes
As a reference point, we’re talking about 25–30 million and up, the bracket the industry calls ultra high net worth. Here, instead of a banker, you have a team: one specialist for credit, one for investments, one for passing wealth on to your children. You get access to tailor-made financing and to investments that never reach the public, such as stakes in unlisted companies.
The limit is the threshold itself. If you’re below it, chasing this level means paying for services you won’t use.
Level 7: the family office
At the seventh and final level, the relationship is turned upside down. Banks become suppliers: it’s you, or an organization working for your family, who chooses them, compares them and puts them in competition with each other.
There are two versions. A multi-family office serves several families together and can make sense from around 25–30 million. A single family office, dedicated to one family, usually starts at a different order of magnitude, often above 100 million, because it carries the fixed costs of a small company: people, systems, advisors.
That’s precisely the limit: it’s expensive and requires organization. Below certain amounts, it’s a suit several sizes too big.
Which level of private banking are you really at
For most of the entrepreneurs we work with, the level to aim for is the fifth: multi-jurisdiction private banking. It offers real diversification, can be reached with one million, sometimes less, and doesn’t carry the costs of a family office.
To understand where you stand today, three questions are enough:
- How many banks do you have, and in how many countries?
- Has your banker ever offered you anything outside their own bank?
- If your main bank froze your account tomorrow, for how many days could you keep paying your family and your team?
If the answer to the last question is less than a week, you already know where to start.
The path, in order, is always the same: understand which level you’re really at, beyond the name the bank gives the service; decide what role each bank should play, between cash, investments and operations; open the relationship in the right country, calmly. Because a banking relationship is opened before you need it.
Frequently asked questions
How much wealth do you need to access private banking?
There are no official thresholds. In practice, your local bank’s private service starts at roughly €250,000–500,000, domestic private banking at around one million, while the most selective foreign private banks can ask for CHF 2 to 5 million from those who approach them on their own.
What’s the difference between private banking and wealth management?
Private banking revolves around a dedicated banker and the management of your wealth. Wealth management, designed for fortunes of 25–30 million and up, provides a team of specialists for credit, investments and generational wealth transfer.
When does a family office make sense?
A multi-family office can make sense from around 25–30 million. A single family office usually starts above 100 million, because it carries the fixed costs of a small company.
Can you access a Swiss private bank with less than one million?
In several cases, yes, through an introducer with a formal agreement with the bank: thresholds can start from CHF 250,000–500,000. The final decision, along with KYC and due diligence, always rests with the bank.
How to move up a level with GloboBanks
Deciding which level you want to be at is the easy part. The hard part is getting accepted by a serious third- or fourth-level bank, remotely and with a sensible minimum deposit.
GloboBanks works with more than 60 banking institutions in over 15 jurisdictions, under formal introduction agreements, and every week introduces to these banks entrepreneurs and families who want to move up a level. KYC, due diligence and account approval always remain with the bank.
If you want to know which level you’re starting from and how far you are from the fifth, the team offers a confidential pre-assessment of your profile.
Contact the team for your pre-assessment.
–
GloboBanks provides a banking introduction service. It is not a bank, law firm or tax advisor, and this content is informational, not tax, legal or investment advice. KYC, due diligence and account approval are carried out solely by the bank. Every client is responsible for complying with the tax and reporting obligations of their country of residence.
