UTI Bank pampers its HNI clients

Space. Luxurious sofas. Wall-hung television sets dishing out latest business news. Soft piped music to soothe your mood. And piping hot freshly brewed coffee to enhance it. Are you in the lobby of a five star hotel? Welcome to the Priority Lounge of UTI Bank!

As the bank opened its first priority lounge for its clients in the high net worth individuals, Executive Director S Chatterjee says the new concept will take the service offered to this category of clients to another level.

"We intend to offer from here a suite of 'sophisticated' banking and investment products to the HNI clients with the ultimate intention of maximising their wealth," he elaborates.

The products that will be offered out of a UTI Bank Priority Lounge will be vanilla banking products but the "sophistication" will come through expert advice from the bank's relationship managers who are capable of understanding the complex diversity of the financial market and also the clients' investment needs that are as complex and diverse, Chatterjee says.

"We are aware our target clients are people who travel extensively across the world and have experienced the kind of service banks overseas offer. We will strive to offer to them that level and flavour of service," he claims.

So the first priority lounge - which is the country's first by any private sector bank- is a 10,000 sq ft idea with spacious lobby area, cosy discussion cubicles and even a play area for children "who may feel bored as their parents are all ears, sitting with the bank's investment advisors".

For the record, the advice will encompass investments in derivatives - including foreign exchange derivatives, cross currency deals, insurance, commodities, stocks as well as loan products specifically tailored for the clients. The offerings will be on both assets side and liabilities side, adds Manju Srivatsa, head of the bank's retail liabilities business.

UTI Bank's President, retail banking Hemant Kaul says the bank looks at customers with an involvement of over Rs 6-7 lakh with the bank as "priority customers." And the bank has well over 200,000 of them he adds.

Chatterjee is reluctant to reveal the fee structure for the priority customers who are eligible to avail these 'sophisticated' services. "There's no fixed percentage. The fee we charge will vary according to nature of advice and its complexity as well as the intended financial gain," is all he has to say.

UTI Bank will take the concept to two metros, Mumbai and Kolkata, in the next two months or so.

Also on cards is a Priority Lounge in Bangalore and Hyderabad each. There will be four Lounges by the end of the year 2006-07, and more in the days to come, says Kaul.