Banker & Tradesman file photo
Count Salem Five among the local banks now looking to high-touch, always-on customer service to generate more revenue from their best clients.
The bank announced Thursday morning that it’s launching a private banking team in its retail banking division. The bank says it’s hired former Enterprise Bank branch relationship manager Veronica Tamburrini-Caira to lead the team, with the rank of senior vice president.
Salem Five’s private banking team will be in “proof-of-concept” phase for the next year with just two people, said Joe Riley, executive vice president of retail and business banking.
“Rather than saying that [the new team] will translate into $4 million or $5 million in revenue I want to see what people who are highly energized, highly motivated can do,” Riley said, calling Tamburrini-Caira “a person we think is really strong, from a service and business development perspective.”
While the team will stay at two people for this phase, Riley said, he expects the team will “show meaningful growth” even before it gains new staff.
Large banks like Citizens or JPMorgan Chase, and even smaller regional like Berkshire Bank have made headlines in the last two years with growing private banking divisions racing to soak up former First Republic Bank and Silicon Valley Bank customers. Salem Five pulled the trigger on establishing a private banking team, Riley said, because it saw a “clear opportunity” to earn higher wallet-share from existing customers – perhaps ones who have a commercial borrowing relationship with the bank right now, but who don’t use its insurance or mortgage products.
“We’ve gone through our entire customer base and we understand who those customers are – we’ve identified a significant number of customers who [already] contribute more than $10,000 in revenue,” he said.
Veronica Tamburrini-Caira
Hopefully, he said, the private banking service will also be an inducement for others to chose Salem Five in the future. Unlike other banks, Riley said, Salem Five’s first private banking clients aren’t being chosen on the basis of deposit or borrowing thresholds, but based on how much revenue they currently bring into the bank.
The new private banking team will also help defend Salem Five’s customer base from encroachment by rivals.
“These are our best customers, and we want to protect them. And we can protect them best by offering them excellent services,” Riley said.
Bank customers selected for private banking services can expect Tamburrini-Caira and her colleague to be available around the clock, and to be able to “go to the head of the line” for many services.
“We’re calling it private banking because, in the vernacular, people have a general understanding of what it is, but it would be better described as concierge banking,” Riley said, “providing to these very-high-value customers a level of access, responsiveness and convenience that we believe will be extraordinary in the industry.”
