It seems that since the CEO of Discount Bank, Uri Levin, was the first in the banking system to raise the interest rate on deposits in view of the Bank of Israel’s interest rate hikes, the other banks are improving their attitudes towards customers.
After yesterday Bank Hapoalim came out with the benefit of subsidizing today’s expected interest rate hike from the Bank of Israel to struggling customers, this morning (Monday) the bank is launching an attractive savings plan. The bank offers “winning savings for a year and a half” (18 months), without exit stations, with a gross grant for the entire period at the level of 7%. The grant embodies a fixed annual interest (not indexed) at a rate of 4.61%, which will actually be higher than the Bank of Israel’s interest rate even after today’s expected increase.
In fact, Bank Hapoalim jumps to the top of the table with the most attractive interest rate for a short period of up to two years. For comparison, in November Bank Mizrahi Tefahot was the leader in the banking system with an interest rate of 4.06% on a deposit for a period of one to two years. It is followed by Mercantil with 3.75%, Discount with an interest rate of 3.48% and the Bank of Jerusalem with an interest rate of 3.46%.
Bank Hapoalim explains that the bank is launching the product regardless of the interest rate increase that the Bank of Israel will announce this afternoon.
Dalit Raviv, deputy to the CEO of Bank Hapoalim and in charge of the retail division: “The product we are offering today expresses our commitment to continue offering customers attractive value propositions especially at a time when interest rates in the economy are rising. We will continue to offer more attractive products to our customers.”