All About the Chase Private Client Program

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

Travelers often use their credit cards to earn elite status with airlines, hotel programs and even rental car companies. And in a way, being a member of the Chase Private Client program is like having elite status — with one of the most important banks and travel rewards credit card issuers. In today's post, I want to discuss the benefits of Chase Private Client, and share my experience enrolling in it.

What is Chase Private Client?

Chase Private Client is a collection of special services and fee waivers available to a select group of top customers, much like having elite status with a travel provider. One element of this is called Concierge Banking, which, as its name implies, allows you to connect with a dedicated team of bankers who offer priority service when managing your accounts with Chase.

Benefits to banking customers of being a Chase Private Client:

• No monthly service fee on Chase Private Client checking or savings accounts.
• A reduced minimum balance requirement on Chase Platinum Business Checking and no monthly fee on Chase Total Business Checking accounts
• No fees for domestic and international wire transfers completed in person, on the phone or online.
• No Chase fee at a non-Chase ATM (including international ATMs). In addition, Chase refunds ATM fees charged by the ATM owners up to five times per statement period.
• No fee for 3 x 5 Safe Deposit Box and a 20% discount for larger boxes.
• No stop payment fees.
• No fees for cashier’s checks, counter checks or money orders.
• When using your debit card, Chase will increase your daily ATM withdrawal limit of up to $2,000 and a daily purchase limit of up to $7,500.
• No exchange rate adjustment fees for debit card usage or ATM withdrawals abroad, making this another great way to save on overseas ATM withdrawals.

It also includes some credit card benefits and perks, such as:

• Access to Chase's JP Morgan Reserve Card (only for former Palladium cardholders).
• A slightly higher sign-up bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. Chase Private Client customers can earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on their card within three months of account opening, versus 50,000 points for the public offer.
• Mortgage benefits including the ability to leverage Chase's best rate when you purchase a home with the Chase Private Client Mortgage Rate Purchase Program (based on your total deposits and investments with Chase), a $750 discount on closing costs on all loans, dedicated priority processing and senior underwriting support for loans, discounts for Home Equity Lines of Credit and direct access to Customer Service Specialists.
• Access to the Chase Private Client Arts & Culture program, which includes a card that offers free admission and discounts to museums in about a dozen major US cities. For example, in New York it offers free admission to the American Museum of Natural History for yourself and up to five guests. The card is specific to an individual city, but it appears that Chase is willing to send you new cards when you plan on visiting a particular city.
• A private client advisor when you have investments with JP Morgan.

Qualifying for Chase Private Client Status

To become a Chase Private Client, you must have a total of $250,000 or more in any combination of qualifying linked deposits and investments. However, there are many reports that this is only an initial qualification and that customers can still retain Chase Private Client status after their deposits have fallen below this threshold. In addition, Chase Private Client benefits can extend to adult members of your immediate family when you're joint owners on Chase Private Client deposit accounts. This is how I qualified to enroll in the program.

My Experience Enrolling in Chase Private Client

I recalled my parents asking me about the Palladium card that they had been offered, so I knew that they were part of the Chase Private Client program. When we saw that those benefits could be extended to my wife and me as adult members of their immediate family, we decided to give the program a try.

First, I found out that you can't enroll in the Chase Private Client program from just any Chase branch; you have to visit one that specifically offers Chase Private Client services. You can find a Chase Private Client branch near you at this page.

Next, I learned that to have the Chase Private Client benefits extended to my account, I had to make my parents co-signers on one of my checking or savings accounts. In addition, it has to be a consumer account, not a business account. However, you should be able to open a joint checking or savings account from any branch, for the purpose of extending Chase Private Client benefits to immediate family members. In fact, the Chase banker I met with was eager to help me open this new account, with my mother as a co-signer, and she even acknowledged that opening an account specifically for this purpose is the best way for me to gain the Chase Private Client status.

Finally, I was told that in order to add a co-signer to a joint account, the account must have been opened in the last 30 days, so you can't link a pre-existing account to your family member who has Chase Private Client status. Once I learned this, I decided to open a new checking account, listing my wife and mother as co-signers.

The last step was for wife and my mother to (separately) visit any Chase branch, present their IDs and sign a signature card. I was told that we may have to call a Chase Private Client representative to activate our benefits, but soon after my mother signed the signature card, I logged into my Chase account and noticed the difference.

Using My Chase Private Client Benefits

With no cost to me or my wife, it only took a few minutes to create a new account and have my wife and mother become joint account holders. I'll be able to utilize many of the benefits that Chase Private Client offers, and develop an even closer banking relationship with the company. For example, I'm considering moving both my personal and business banking from a small internet-based bank to Chase, in part due to the numerous fee waivers that I now qualify for. I also plan on utilizing the Chase Private Client Arts & Culture program, and I'll certainly consider a Chase mortgage when the time comes for us to refinance or purchase a new home. Finally, I'm eager to look at what JP Morgan can offer us when it comes to our family's investments.

Are you a member of the Chase Private Client program? If so, what has been your experience?