Private bankers and robo-advisers face off

A new frontier is opening on the fintech battlefield private banking.

Recent innovations such as robo-advisers could reduce the need for wealth managers, particularly among mass-affluent clients.

Technologically savvy competitors are already competing fiercely with some bank services, such as retail banking and lending to small companies. Fintech start-ups claim to make finance easier for the man-on-the-street, with products such as digital wallets and crowd funding.

Now these hungry fintech firms have private banking in their crosshairs.

And they are particularly gaining traction among Asia’s younger, wealthy clients, who want to be in control of their finances. Accenture found that 37%...