Local media reports suggest that the Australian Big Four bank is set to carry out a restructure of its private banking arm.

National Australia Bank is to overhaul its private banking unit in a move that will spark redundancies, according to media reports.

The restructure will affect the roles of almost 20 private bankers as the bank realigns the division to focus on ultra-high and high net worth clients. The affected bankers will face either redundancy, redeployment or can apply for 27 newly created positions, Street Talk reports.

However, it is unclear whether the new job posts will be at the same level of those being slashed. NAB will also introduce a sub-unit that will act as a direct private bank in which employees only deal with customers through digital and phone channels.

The structure shuffle comes as Australia’s Big Four - NAB, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and Westpac – up the ante on scrutinising costs and headcount across their businesses.

NAB is said to be looking to segment its higher-quality customers from those from which it does not earn a lot of revenue. The prerequisite for being a private banking customer with NAB is a minimum of A$400,000 ($307,193) and investable assets of at least $1 million outside the family home, according to the bank’s website.

WealthBriefingAsia will continue to monitor developments and will update coverage accordingly.