The Deputy Supervisor of Banks, Ms. Odeda Peretz, presented today, December 13, 2001, to the Knesset’s Economics Committee, an overview of the closure of branches and private ATMs.
During the discussion, the Deputy Supervisor presented the changes in the banking system in Israel and around the world resulting from technological developments. These have led to an increase in the volume of direct banking services, an improvement in their availability and a reduction in their price. Following these changes, there has been a significant change in consumer preferences and the proportion of customers who use direct banking services is rising every year, and following the Corona crisis, even more so.
Here are the main points she presented:
In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the use of direct channels and a decrease in the operation of branches.
The rate of use of direct channels is very high, even among senior citizens.
With regard to senior citizens, some of whom still need frontal services, the Supervisor has taken a number of steps, including: promoting in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Equality and through the banking system a program for digital empowerment of senior citizens and a convention to make banking services accessible to senior citizens; Set priority in the provision of banking services by telephone and at the branch; Promote processes to reduce the phenomenon of senior citizen fraud and more.
Branches:
With regard to the distribution of branches, various data were presented in relation to what is customary in OECD countries, which shows that the number of branches in Israel is high compared to OECD countries.
There has been a decrease in the total number of requests for branch closures that are forwarded to the Supervisor for approval.
There has been a decrease in the number of applications approved without the conditions, and in fact most of the applications approved are in non-peripheral areas.
There has been a decrease in the number of inquiries handled by the Public Inquiries Unit regarding the closure of bank branches.
ATMs:
With regard to the deployment of ATMs, data were presented which show that the number of ATMs is high relative to the world and that over the years, there has been an increasing trend in the number of ATMs, both banking and private.
The Supervisor requires the banks in Israel to place automatic devices near each branch to ensure the availability and accessibility of cash services to the public. If necessary, approval of closing a bank branch is conditional on leaving an instrument near the closed branch.
An analysis of the withdrawal data shows that the rate of cash withdrawn through the banking instruments is about 89% of the total withdrawals through instruments in Israel.
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