Career Choice: Consumer Banking or Business Banking?

LOL 8 replies and none answered the TS question

Originally Posted by Unregistered

May I ask, do you speak from experience?

Yes, I was with SCB before as a consumer banker, join them with exactly the wrong concept that doing these lousy jobs and long hours were the way to join PB/IB next time.

It's a myth. Many people are just hanging by hoping and praying, but in my 2 years there I never know anyone who actually succed in making the switch. All we had were rumours, but never an identifiable person with an actual name. The bank itself will always subtly imply the possibility to keep the grunts motivated and stay with them.

Base on my observation, to make it to these pulmp jobs, either you have sterling academics and join the FO right at the start, or you are some rich kid with rich connections or you are mid career who build up your connections in some other industry. Ammassing experience and network with the common masses who only have a few hundred k in their banks aint gona get you anywhere to IB.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes, I was with SCB before as a consumer banker, join them with exactly the wrong concept that doing these lousy jobs and long hours were the way to join PB/IB next time.

It's a myth. Many people are just hanging by hoping and praying, but in my 2 years there I never know anyone who actually succed in making the switch. All we had were rumours, but never an identifiable person with an actual name. The bank itself will always subtly imply the possibility to keep the grunts motivated and stay with them.

Base on my observation, to make it to these pulmp jobs, either you have sterling academics and join the FO right at the start, or you are some rich kid with rich connections or you are mid career who build up your connections in some other industry. Ammassing experience and network with the common masses who only have a few hundred k in their banks aint gona get you anywhere to IB.

i dun think its possible to make it to a private banker in just 2 or 3 years if you join as a consumer banker right? correct me if im wrong but i think private bankers are mostly all in their 30s at least. also, i dun think its possible to get into IB if you join as a consumer banker, what you should be looking at is to move up to head the whole branch instead.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

i dun think its possible to make it to a private banker in just 2 or 3 years if you join as a consumer banker right? correct me if im wrong but i think private bankers are mostly all in their 30s at least. also, i dun think its possible to get into IB if you join as a consumer banker, what you should be looking at is to move up to head the whole branch instead.

You are missing the point, I’m not saying you cant move from CB to PB/IB in 2 years, I’m saying in my 2 years there in 3 branches I have never heard anyone including much older people make the successful transition. Many have the attitude of hoping for a move and they talk about it a lot, but they never got anywhere close.

Of course if you stay in CB long enough can make it to some branch supervisor role, but lets get real here most people do not join a bank and work that kind of crazy hours and deal with that level of stress and KPI just to become some lousy branch manager, they take it because they hope it is a door for them to land in a good position to unlock the mega bonuses.

If I had wanted to be some branch ops manager or sales team lead, I would have joined any MNC or local blue chip and I will still get the same pay and progression minus those mad hours.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes, I was with SCB before as a consumer banker, join them with exactly the wrong concept that doing these lousy jobs and long hours were the way to join PB/IB next time.

Hi there since you were with SCB before, can ask whether Price Solutions still in operation?
Is SCB strong in business banking or commercial or corporate banking, whatever the term is to deal with businesses.
And, whats the progression like for someone starting off in Business Banking? Not asking whether is it lucrative or can earn alot of money anot though that will be gd to know.
Thanks.

Originally Posted by alant

Hi there since you were with SCB before, can ask whether Price Solutions still in operation?
Is SCB strong in business banking or commercial or corporate banking, whatever the term is to deal with businesses.
And, whats the progression like for someone starting off in Business Banking? Not asking whether is it lucrative or can earn alot of money anot though that will be gd to know.
Thanks.

Among the foreign banks SCB has the major market share in business / SME banking. Their middle corporates (local corporates) and MNC banking (global corp) are not bad too. Bonuses are good but working hours are crazy since they like to give crazy budget figures for pple to hit.

As for consumer vs business banking, I would personally prefer business / corporate banking. I find looking at annual reports/ broker reports / different business industries of companies more interesting then credit cards, consumer products and personal banking. Also there are many many foreign bank branches in Singapore doing nothing but corporate banking so there are quite alot of choices.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Among the foreign banks SCB has the major market share in business / SME banking. Their middle corporates (local corporates) and MNC banking (global corp) are not bad too. Bonuses are good but working hours are crazy since they like to give crazy budget figures for pple to hit.

As for consumer vs business banking, I would personally prefer business / corporate banking. I find looking at annual reports/ broker reports / different business industries of companies more interesting then credit cards, consumer products and personal banking. Also there are many many foreign bank branches in Singapore doing nothing but corporate banking so there are quite alot of choices.

I see, hows the career progression like then for someone starting off as entry level and moving up? Curious as I'm not in banking.

Why didnt you move to business banking then? Are you still in banking?

[lordlad]

some hard truth....

for bigger investment banks like barclays, Deutsche Bank, etc.....connection is very important.......if you have friends inside that can act as referrals when an opening is available, that is the best chance.

Either that or internship (although I'm not sure how you can get in the internship in the first place).

I was in Deutsche Bank doing their IT from 2007-2008 and although different field as banking/finance, their hiring criteria is the same........been through a few interviews for Barclays and also BNP Paribas but the role is not something I want to do so now ended in a much smaller investment trading bank (Standard Merchant Bank, the commodity trading arm of South Africa's Standard Bank Group)...but i digress...

Originally Posted by alant

I see, hows the career progression like then for someone starting off as entry level and moving up? Curious as I'm not in banking.

Why didnt you move to business banking then? Are you still in banking?

Progression for sales usually just sales mgr then if you do well later on team leader. Some after many years as team leader maybe go join credit or become a RM to do servicing.


ya, i started in business banking operations with low pay and bonus and sucky hours. Then i moved to business banking credit as a analyst still with quite suck pay. Not much increment for internal transfer. Was not very keen to do sales, very high targets, every week got tekan sales meeting by the sales head etc v stress lol.

After about 3 years there I moved to another bank as a assistant corporate RM. No sales involved, just do day to day servicing of large singapore MNCs (no longer business banking heh). Pay there was much better, bonus also quite good. After a few years I didn't want to do day to day servicing anymore and went back to do credit. Changed a few other banks since.

Current place is not bad. Small Singapore branch of a asian bank, 5.30 can leave office, hardly need to OT and pay / bonus is decent.

Hi all I have been offered a client acquisition role at a bank. From my understanding, the role is to acquire priority clients and hand them off to the RMs. Anybody has experience in this role? And what are the likely career prospects? TIA