CYA
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I typically call them on the phone, and when the AI asks what I want I say "stock certificates." Then it transfers me to a live rep who reads me the CYA legalese and disclaimers on their end, asks me what I want to transfer, and that is that.
Their text chat bot can do it too, but ever once in a while someone posts about it crashing out.

having watched a HBO series based on management consulting called House of Lies which was loosely based on McKinsey so I consider myself an expert on this matter.
Kidding aside, I think it's a corporate form of CYA. Executives have to answer to the board of directors who answer to shareholders, when it comes to high level decisions and they want to be able to demonstrate a thorough level of due diligence.
If things don't go according to plan they can always say well we hired the best consulting firm in the business who suggested and signed off on the course of action. In that case the management firm gets counseled out instead of that CEO getting the boot.

It’s really this, that points to why companies like Bain and McKinsey exist. 
It’s not just to validate/explore options by C-suite and the board or corporate CYA. 
It’s the fact that a lot of c-suites and boards are just honestly *that* inept, and they’re largely political positions not merit-based ones, especially at the big-money companies. 
Cutting overhead = more profit is truly lost on a lot of corporate management. 

They provide so called independent and expert third party evidence to validate leadership decisions to boards, shareholders and employees. It’s the executive version of CYA.

CYA

That's the problem--lack of experience and rigor. I've met with plenty of consultants from analyst level to partner level. As you said, they're smart but they don't know anything outside of vanilla business school thinking. Almost none of them have more than a few years of industry (non-consulting) experience. Their reports are worth less than the paper they're printed on - they just regurgitate market data and make totally unfounded and unsupported predictions. There is no rigor to their analysis, and there is no basis for their advice because they lack industry experience.
Even if I was a C-suite or board member, and I wanted some CYA for an unpopular decision or something, I would not hire these consultants. Depending on the need, you can get better CYA from a law firm or an accounting firm whose reports and recommendations will at least have a basis and processes.

To add some actual answer to the snark:
There are basically two kinds of consulting. Strategy consulting and specialist consulting.
Specialist consulting is providing the company with expertise that it doesn't have internally, usually because it's infeasible or just not economical to have that expertise in-house.
For example, you only need to plan and build a computer network once per office. Once it's up and running, most companies can get by with one network tech. Hiring a network architect full-time would be a waste, so you contract an IT consulting firm.
Designing a pay structure with salary ranges, KPIs for bonuses, etc is also only done once every few years. So rather than doing it yourself, you hire consultants who do that all the time and have experience about what works for what kind of company.
Strategy consulting (which is what McKinsey does most of the time) is just "find arguments that support the decision of the C-suite, then make it sound compelling and important". Also, it provides a convenient external scapegoat.
It's basically CYA for the C\*Os against blame from the board/shareholders.

Consulting exists because companies often need someone else to say "this risky move is actually genius" before they pull the trigger. It's equal parts strategy validation and corporate CYA when things go sideways. Half the time they're just paid yes-men for execs with wild ideas, the other half they're scapegoats-in-waiting. Either way, they make bank by telling leadership what they want to hear with fancy PowerPoints.

>There was silence. America has some of the most sophisticated alarm systems in the world. Her scientists have developed infrared sensors that can detect body heat from several miles above the earth’s surface; there are noise sensors that can hear a mouse breathe at a mile; there are movement and light sensors to pick up a cigarette stub from inner space. But no system in the entire arsenal can match the CYA sensor system that operates in Washington. It had already been in action for two hours and now was headed for peak performance.
- Frederick Forsyth, from "The Negotiator"
CYA = Cover Your Ass
TL/DR: Can't be held accountable for a stupid ass decision if a big, expensive consulting company said it's ok.
TL/DR/TL/DR: But ~~Mom~~ McKinsey said it was ok!

I typically call them on the phone, and when the AI asks what I want I say "stock certificates." Then it transfers me to a live rep who reads me the CYA legalese and disclaimers on their end, asks me what I want to transfer, and that is that.
Their text chat bot can do it too, but ever once in a while someone posts about it crashing out.

having watched a HBO series based on management consulting called House of Lies which was loosely based on McKinsey so I consider myself an expert on this matter.
Kidding aside, I think it's a corporate form of CYA. Executives have to answer to the board of directors who answer to shareholders, when it comes to high level decisions and they want to be able to demonstrate a thorough level of due diligence.
If things don't go according to plan they can always say well we hired the best consulting firm in the business who suggested and signed off on the course of action. In that case the management firm gets counseled out instead of that CEO getting the boot.

It’s really this, that points to why companies like Bain and McKinsey exist. 
It’s not just to validate/explore options by C-suite and the board or corporate CYA. 
It’s the fact that a lot of c-suites and boards are just honestly *that* inept, and they’re largely political positions not merit-based ones, especially at the big-money companies. 
Cutting overhead = more profit is truly lost on a lot of corporate management. 

They provide so called independent and expert third party evidence to validate leadership decisions to boards, shareholders and employees. It’s the executive version of CYA.

CYA

That's the problem--lack of experience and rigor. I've met with plenty of consultants from analyst level to partner level. As you said, they're smart but they don't know anything outside of vanilla business school thinking. Almost none of them have more than a few years of industry (non-consulting) experience. Their reports are worth less than the paper they're printed on - they just regurgitate market data and make totally unfounded and unsupported predictions. There is no rigor to their analysis, and there is no basis for their advice because they lack industry experience.
Even if I was a C-suite or board member, and I wanted some CYA for an unpopular decision or something, I would not hire these consultants. Depending on the need, you can get better CYA from a law firm or an accounting firm whose reports and recommendations will at least have a basis and processes.

To add some actual answer to the snark:
There are basically two kinds of consulting. Strategy consulting and specialist consulting.
Specialist consulting is providing the company with expertise that it doesn't have internally, usually because it's infeasible or just not economical to have that expertise in-house.
For example, you only need to plan and build a computer network once per office. Once it's up and running, most companies can get by with one network tech. Hiring a network architect full-time would be a waste, so you contract an IT consulting firm.
Designing a pay structure with salary ranges, KPIs for bonuses, etc is also only done once every few years. So rather than doing it yourself, you hire consultants who do that all the time and have experience about what works for what kind of company.
Strategy consulting (which is what McKinsey does most of the time) is just "find arguments that support the decision of the C-suite, then make it sound compelling and important". Also, it provides a convenient external scapegoat.
It's basically CYA for the C\*Os against blame from the board/shareholders.

Consulting exists because companies often need someone else to say "this risky move is actually genius" before they pull the trigger. It's equal parts strategy validation and corporate CYA when things go sideways. Half the time they're just paid yes-men for execs with wild ideas, the other half they're scapegoats-in-waiting. Either way, they make bank by telling leadership what they want to hear with fancy PowerPoints.

>There was silence. America has some of the most sophisticated alarm systems in the world. Her scientists have developed infrared sensors that can detect body heat from several miles above the earth’s surface; there are noise sensors that can hear a mouse breathe at a mile; there are movement and light sensors to pick up a cigarette stub from inner space. But no system in the entire arsenal can match the CYA sensor system that operates in Washington. It had already been in action for two hours and now was headed for peak performance.
- Frederick Forsyth, from "The Negotiator"
CYA = Cover Your Ass
TL/DR: Can't be held accountable for a stupid ass decision if a big, expensive consulting company said it's ok.
TL/DR/TL/DR: But ~~Mom~~ McKinsey said it was ok!