Alex and the smart folks at Arvetica do a great job of capturing comments from thought leaders in Private Banking.  I met Alex and his colleagues at LIFT earlier this year, and they are doing good stuff.

This particular interview rang a chord for me, with comments that can be applied to any Bank model.

private banking innovation : Blog Archive : Karl-Matthäus Schmidt, CEO of quirin bank Presents their Innovative Private Banking Business Model

The business model of quirin bank can be described in one sentence:
we are the first bank in Germany that can honestly and truly call
itself a ‘Customers Advocate Bank’. What does this exactly mean?

• First: we are completely transparent. The costs of our services are
  clearly communicated to our clients: they pay a flat-fee of only 75
  Euros a month plus profit sharing. We do not take any hidden
  commissions like the usual banks do. And also there are no unprofitable
  transactions on clients bank accounts, which get us money but not the
  client! We strongly believe that with this approach we create much
  better value for money for our clients than is usually the case.
• Second: we are completely independent: we are not dependent on any
  commissions this is why we are not obliged to sell our own
  house-products. On the contrary: we advise our clients objectively and
  independently and advise them on the most intelligent and economically
  efficient products – we do financial consulting and not product-selling
• Third: we are a ‘Customers Advocate bank’ serving our clients
  interests 100 percent. Only if we earn money for our clients we will
  earn money as a bank. This business model creates a real win-win
  situation for both: clients and bank
• Fourth: Making clients assets grow is our first and foremost
  target. We are the first bank in Germany which writes back all
  commissions to its clients. Furthermore we allow interests on clients
  deposits that are often the best you can get in the market;  these are interests, which banks grant to each other and which are
  normally higher than the interests that banks grant to their customers.

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