First changes in the management of the Isracard credit card company after taking over the position of CEO of Ran Oz. Griani’s arrival at Isracard to lead the business, having held one of the top five positions at Discount and even been mentioned as a candidate for the position of future CEO of the bank, marks the change in Isracard’s focus in the coming years.
Oz, who took office on November 28, then replacing Ron Wexler who served as CEO for six years, brought Griani to Isracard not to engage in credit, which is the core area of the company’s operations, but to advance Isracard’s business.
This, along with the promotion of the company’s credit sector, in which Gila Har, the director of credit, provided a picture for the management company. As of the end of the third quarter of 2021, Isracard is behind two competing consumer credit card companies – Max and ICC, in terms of its consumer credit portfolio. Despite being the largest of the three companies, Isracard has a credit portfolio of NIS 4 billion, compared with a portfolio of NIS 5.45 billion at ICC and NIS 5.85 at Max. In order to assist in the promotion of credit to private customers, it was also decided to promote Hagar Ben Ezra, Head of the Private Customers Division, to the Deputy CEO.
Kissing the ceiling that allowed the executive pay limit
Griani was appointed at the end of 2019 to head the division responsible for retail banking at Discount and before that served as head of the human resources and assets division. Griani has been a management member of the bank since 2014 and it grew out of the business division. In her most recent role in the business division she managed the large companies division. At Discount, we have already been informed that Griani has announced his retirement, and the end date of her position has not yet been set.
The main reason for its move to Isracard lies in the executive salary limit that does not apply to credit card companies. According to Discount’s reports for 2020, it earned more than NIS 2.5 million this year, of which NIS 2,311 million is in accordance with the executive salary limit, which means that it is within the maximum threshold allowed by law as a bank employee. In Isracard, it is expected to earn much more than it earns as number 2 or 3 in Discount Bank, which is traded around a value of NIS 25.4 billion, several times more than Isracard, which is traded at a value of NIS 3.3 billion.
El Al’s digital director will lead the data world
In addition, Oz has led a number of other appointments in the company. Amit Sagi will be appointed VP of Data, Digital and Marketing and Uri Alon will take up the same position until recently. Alon is considered a leading candidate for the position of CEO of Isracard, but in the end Oz was preferred to him.
In addition, Gili Hoch has been appointed VP of Strategy and Business Development. In her most recent positions, Hoch served as the Direct Investment Manager at Technology and Fintech in the Migdal Group, as the Investment Manager of the Chinese Baidu Group in Israel, as VP of Strategy, Research and Business Development at Bank Hapoalim, and as a senior consultant at McKinsey. The company has the large amount of data accumulated in the company’s databases for fintechs, thus creating a win-win for both the company that will enjoy innovative services and for fintechs that will enjoy Isracard’s information about customers.
Yoni Regev, VP of Fraud Prevention and Regulation, will be promoted to Isracard’s VP of Risk Management and Chief Risk Officer, in addition to his current position. Isracard also has Shimon Hadad, senior vice president for business clients.
Isracard ended the third quarter of 2021 with a 62% increase in net profit to NIS 99 million. The quarterly profit reflects a return on average capital (annual calculation) of 15.6%, compared to 10.3% in the corresponding quarter last year. A look at the results for the first nine months of 2021 shows that revenues grew by 8% to NIS 1.66 billion, while net profit more than doubled (112%) and amounted to NIS 286 million.