How can bank deposits bring value to an advisor’s client relationships?

Advisors are busy enough managing clients’ wealth and keeping them protected. They want to make the most of their time with clients, so they may think that offering banking products isn’t worth it. Yet everything that comes an advisor’s way starts with someone giving them money from a bank account. So why wouldn’t advisors want greater insight into how clients are deploying those funds?

We’ve seen many advisors learn that talking about deposits doesn’t add much time and offers valuable benefits.

By helping clients get more for their money, with simple products like their bank accounts, advisors can help strengthen their influence on the range of their clients’ financial decisions. That can help improve client satisfaction and loyalty, boost sales, and increase cash flow for the well-being of clients’ investment portfolios and insurance plans. 

There are many decisions in choosing the right mortgage, line of credit, credit card, and even daily banking package. Advisors can add tremendous value by showing clients a better way to bank. When clients use those banking services and have their needs met, it will remind them of the value their advisors bring into their lives.

It’s prudent to get involved in deposits for other reasons. Advisors work hard to build the relationships needed for clients to direct their hard-earned income into investment and insurance recommendations. But advisors face the risk of losing clients. Every traditional and virtual bank, robo-advisor, and even some retailers want the cross-selling opportunities that bank accounts provide. Recommending deposit products can help strengthen the client-advisor bond and reduce the possibilities of competitors preying on an advisor’s business. 

Many traditional wealth and protection products are easily forgotten until they become more important later in life. But banking products support daily financial decisions. Our deposit advisors tell us stories of gaining more investment assets from clients who appreciated being helped around their savings and everyday banking. Part of the value comes from seeing clients direct more idle money based on the advisor’s recommendations for both short- and long-term goals.

Our Business Advantage Account puts retained earnings to work with a high daily rate of interest and immediate access to cash. Our average balances are quite high in our corporate accounts. Advisors are using these accounts to potentially migrate more retained earnings into higher-yielding investments. Putting idle money to work is always a win for the clients and the advisor.

High interest rates for clients

A Manulife Bank Advantage Account is a win, too. It’s one of Canada’s first high-interest, branch-free chequing accounts, which pays a premium rate on every dollar and also offers daily banking from the same account. Most advisors use it to provide a savings solution with immediate access to cash when needed. Just by maintaining a $1,000 balance, the Advantage Account can be a complete no-fee unlimited transaction daily banking account—no traditional bank is needed.

Aside from the client benefits, Manulife Bank gives advisors access to client balances through our BankLink platform. So when there’s a meeting or an annual review, the advisor may notice a large deposit balance that far exceeds their client’s savings needs. That can trigger recommendations for higher investment returns through core offerings like mutual or segregated funds.

These accounts also tend to have “sticky” money, and the assets can remain there for a long time—potentially delivering years of commission for little account maintenance.

We realize that an advisor needs to concentrate on their core investment and insurance business. So we’ve made it extremely easy for them to offer deposits to their clients. Advisors can use the Manulife Advisor Portal to open deposit accounts in minutes—with just some client ID, and a void cheque or a funds transfer authorization.

We also give advisors a unique web-based application, where they can simply send a link to an online system and have the client complete the application. Some clients still prefer to see a paper application, so we offer that option, too.

Think of deposits like the bread and milk in a grocery store. They drive traffic and customer loyalty. Every Canadian has a bank account, and advisors can help to ensure that every dollar their clients earn is working for them. Engaging with clients around deposits may be the simplest new business opportunity in an advisor’s practice today.

Learn more about the benefits of a Manulife Bank Advantage Account.

Advantage Account, Business Advantage Account are offered through Manulife Bank of Canada.

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