"Are you interviewing with any other banks"

Hello, Interviews are starting to come in for me and I'm curious about this question that might be asked in an interview. I have two main questions:

1. If asked this, what counts as "interviewing with other banks?" Does this only include a 1st round interview on zoom/over the phone, or hirevues as well? I've done plenty of hirevues and I'm waiting to hear back, so would I include those banks or would I not include the bank unless I've already gone through a first round with them/superday and am waiting to hear back?

2. How would it look if I named the other banks/simply said that I am in fact interviewing with other BB/MM/EB banks, but then followed up with saying "you guys are my #1 choice" or something along those lines? Is that frowned upon in interviews? Or do banks like it when they know you're interested in them more than other banks?

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My go-to was something like "I've been in the interview process with a few other firms, notably [a similar scale / respected firm] where I'm at [stage of process], but I'm very interested in this firm because of [restate your answer for Why X] and look forward to continuing with this hiring process."

You want to be a desirable but realistic prospect for them. You don't want to hire someone who has no prospects, because something is probably wrong. If you were speaking to a small boutique, you probably wouldn't want to waste time interviewing someone who says they're speaking with a JPM / GS, or vice versa.

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