What’s so good about a Coutts account anyway? And all the other luxury credit cards you need to know about

The luxury bank that recently kicked Nigel Farage off its books is all anyone can talk about in the world of personal finance. Isolde Walters lays out the benefits of the UK’s most exclusive credit card

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Isolde Walters

25 July 2023

The acrimonious divorce between Nigel Farage and his erstwhile bank Coutts has dominated the news for weeks and shows no signs of abating.

The ruckus began when the King’s bank informed the Brexiteer that it would be closing his accounts. Furious, Farage accused Coutts of ‘cancelling’ him, while Coutts counterclaimed that Farage was simply no longer wealthy enough to qualify for an account. Pulling up minutes from a bankers’ meeting, Farage proved it was indeed his political opinions that Coutts took umbrage with, forcing the head of Natwest - which owns Coutts - to issue an apology. Now the Treasury is summoning bank bosses to give Coutts a stern telling off and Farage is considering suing Natwest.

Nigel Farage (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

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In the aftermath of all this fuss, the Evening Standard set about answering the obvious burning question posed by the Farage financial saga: what’s so great about a Coutts account? Is it merely the social clout that this bank, which counts Emma Watson, Stormzy and reportedly David Beckham among its clientele, confers upon its customers? Or are there indeed special benefits that far outshine any offering from bog standard Barclays or Nationwide?

Upon further investigation, we discovered a bank far far away from the call centres and tinny hold music that the rest of us have to put up with. Instead, the Coutts client has access to a private concierge with its “lifestyle managers” available 24 hours a day to cater to the client’s every whim. Then there’s the kitchen run by a Michelin-starred chef and a roof garden complete with its own beehives at the Coutts central London HQ. There are leather bound cheque books and diaries, reward points that, in the Coutts universe, are referred to as ‘crowns’, cooking lessons conducted on Zoom, access to over a thousand airport lounges, hotel upgrades, priority at restaurants and tickets to exclusive events galore. Welcome to the world of private banking for the uber-rich. No wonder Farage is so upset at being left out in the cold.

David Beckham (John Walton/PA)

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Let’s start with the Coutts flagship. The head office in the Strand, with its distinctive glass atrium, is certainly designed to impress. But it’s not just a grand facade. Unlike high street banks with their pens on strings and threadbare carpets, Coutts on the Strand boasts beehives on the roof and carp in the fishpond. Oh, and a kitchen headed up by a Michelin-starred chef, Peter Fiori, who uses honey from those beehives in his culinary creations. Melons, guava, flat peaches, wild strawberries and the humble potato are grown in the rooftop garden - known as the Skyline Garden - as well as pineapple mint for tea served to visitors. According to those in the know, the bank wants its customers to feel that its Strand site is somewhere they can “drop in”.

The bank prides itself on its personal touch. Each client is assigned their own banker and granted 24/7 access to the Coutts concierge service. Coutts takes a hands-on approach and does not limit itself to mere financial advice. Chief executive Peter Flavel said of the bank’s concierge team: “If you need tickets, they can probably source them, if you have lost something, we will try pretty hard to find it and if you need specialist advice, they know the best in the business.” No word on whether these concierges can get you into Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour as of yet, though.

When Covid first struck, the concierge team transformed into an upmarket emergency service, helping to repatriate clients’ children who were stuck abroad on their gap years as well as organising last minute flights for customers stranded overseas as the borders began to close. Coutts even took it upon itself to entertain its clients during lockdown with virtual wine tastings and live gourmet cooking classes with Fiori.

A retired barrister, who used to bank with Coutts, said that the bank offered luxurious extras. “There were fancy leather diaries and cheque books that were rather nice,” he told the Standard. “And if you ever need to borrow more money, there was a number to call and the money just arrived in your account within hours. It was all very smooth.”

Of course, the bank is not open to every Tom, Dick and Nigel. According to its website, to qualify for an account at Coutts, you are required to have at all times at least £1m in investments or £3m in savings.

It is this criteria that Liz White, an etiquette advisor at Debretts, believes is key to the bank’s appeal. “With anything that proclaims its own exclusivity, people are bound by nature to decide it is a club that will give them a little bit of gold dust if they are able to join it.

“Obviously Coutts sets very high parameters and that becomes something that aspirational people look to.”

Nigel Farage (Danny Lawson/PA)

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The retired barrister admitted that the bank’s exclusivity was at first part of its charm. He said: “Everyone knew it was a snob bank and of course that’s rather fun.”

But the former Coutts client, who has asked to remain anonymous, ended up switching from Coutts to Barclays and then to Nationwide, because the royal bank’s fees were just too high, with every luxurious extra calculated in the fees. “You pay for everything,” he warned.

Coutts charges £900 a year, taken in quarterly instalments of £225. If your assets are between £250,000 and £499,999, this fee drops to £75 a quarter, and Coutts waives the fee completely for those with £500,000 or more.

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Coutts’s history - it was founded in 1692, making it the eighth oldest bank in the world - is a large part of its branding. “The British people are very wedded to things that hark back to a perceived golden age - the 18th century, Fortnum & Mason and this old-fashioned merchant bank,” White shared. “People think these things have a certain classiness and allure that will rub off on them if they patronise them. It’s just a sensation really, rather than a reality.”

And of course, there’s the social clout that comes with sliding a Coutts credit card across the table when the bill arrives. That subtle but unmissable signifer of social status that tells everyone at the table that the credit card owner just so happens to bank at the same storied establishment as Lord Byron, Frederic Chopin, Charles Dickens, Lord Nelson, the Beatles and every single member of the Royal Family. In fact, despite the monarch’s well known habit of not carrying cash, there is a Coutts ATM tucked away in the basement of Buckingham Palace.

Stormzy

“The British have evolved myriad ways of asserting their class and their wealth,” said White. “A Coutts card immediately puts you on a different level from someone who banks at Barclays.”

The Coutts silk card is known as the most elegant credit card in the world, thanks to its understated design and italic swirl of the word ‘Coutts’. The reward points that clients earn by using the card are called ‘Coutts Crowns’ - a play on the bank’s royal connections. The card also comes with a DragonPass membership that allows cardholders to access over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide as well as other privileges such as priority booking at restaurants and bespoke offers from luxury retailers such as Hermes, Dyson, Apple, KitchenAid and Moet Hennessy.

But White wondered whether, in the age of internet banking when more people are paying with a tap of their iPhone and fewer people are writing cheques, Coutts will be able to rely on the cachet of the iconic brand in the long term.

“In the old days, getting out your Coutts cheque book with its lovely calligraphy and old fashioned design was a kind of visual symbol of class and wealth which is probably less relevant in our current era of internet banking.”

Clearly the loss of his Coutts account has caused Farage no end of distress. Was it the removal of access to its famous concierge service? Or the prospect of never again lunching at the bank’s rooftop garden on the Strand? Or simply not seeing that ripple of recognition in somebody’s face as they clock your Coutts card?

White suspects it is the latter. “A Coutts card is a way of advertising your wealth and status. If you are deprived of the permission to do it, that would probably be quite galling.”

The world’s most exclusive cards

American Express Centurion Card

Known as the ‘black card’, this AMEX is a by-invitation-only charge card known for its luxurious perks. Crafted from titanium with a famous black design, the card is as much a status symbol as a financial tool. Benefits include a dedicated concierge service helping with anything from travel arrangements to sourcing exclusive event tickets. Cardholders can also gain entry to invitation-only glitzy shindigs ranging from fashion shows to film premieres. But those perks will cost you. The AMEX card has an initiation fee of £3,000 with an annual fee of £2,200.

Dubai First Royale

With an eye-popping design featuring a .325 carat diamond in the middle of the card with the edges plated in real gold, this has got to be the most ostentatious credit card on this list. It is also the most secretive. The invitation-only credit card gives those lucky enough to have it access to a ‘lifestyle manager’. Nobody is quite clear on what this manager does and the closest thing we have to an answer is a quote from the CEO of the bank, Ibrahim al Ansari, who said: “You ask for the moon and we try to get it.”

Stratus Rewards Visa

Fondly referred to as the ‘white card’, this is the credit card for jetsetters who want to travel in style. It boasts a rewards programme that offers private jet flight time as a redeemable reward. It also gives you access to discounted charter flights, complimentary car services, luxury hotel upgrades, special events and exclusive goodie bags. To get the card, you will need a referral from an existing cardmember or a Stratus Rewards partner company before you are even considered for an invite. Cardholders pay a £1,150 annual fee for access to this exclusive credit card.

JPMorgan Reserve

This distinctive silver card, made of metal and minted with palladium, is a sleek symbol of wealth and status. It is offered by invitation to clients of JPMorgan’s private banking wealth management or investment banking arms. This means you have to have a minimum of £195k in the bank. In exchange for the £460 yearly fee, cardholders get unlimited lounge access when they travel, top-notch insurance as well as a generous sign-up bonus of 50,000 points once you spend £3,100 within the first three months of opening the account.

The Merrill Lynch Octave Black Card

With an impressively simple black background with a silver bull in the right hand corner, this is an attractive credit card. Slightly more accessible than other cards on this list, the Merrill Lynch Octave is available to people who already bank with Bank of America Private Bank and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. With a hefty annual fee of £750, the card offers exclusive benefits that include hotel upgrades, reward points on eligible purchases, £270 travel credit yearly, access to the lounges of over 1,300 airports across the world and the usual personal concierge service.

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What’s so good about a Coutts account anyway? And all the other luxury credit cards you need to know about

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