The Governor of the Bank of Israel, Prof. Amir Yaron, and the Supervisor of Banks, Yair Avidan, informed the entrepreneurs Yuval Aloni, Nir Tzuk (who retired from Check Point and founded Palo Alto), Alex Lieberant and Alon Shein, that the supervision of the banks has completed the process The test for the establishment of another new bank. Today the governor gave the representatives of the entrepreneurs a conditional license to establish a bank and permits to control it. In addition, the governor granted a holding permit in the bank to Prof. Shmuel Hauser, who is expected to serve as chairman of the new bank. Hauser previously served as chairman of the Securities Authority. The process was carried out in consultation with the Licensing Committee. This is a second license granted to a new bank within a period of three years.
The receipt of the control permits and the conditional bank license will allow the entrepreneurs to move forward and complete the mechanical, operational and regulatory preparation required for the start of the bank’s operations, including completing the development and testing phases of the new technology, completing the recruitment of the management team and the additional manpower required to establish the bank, building the policies, procedures and the processes in its main areas of activity. The establishment period of the bank will last about a year and a half.
The granting of the conditional license and permits was carried out after a comprehensive and in-depth process carried out by the supervision of the banks in the last two years to examine and challenge the business plan submitted to the supervision. The process included a fit & proper check that refers to the honesty, integrity and financial strength of the entrepreneurs, and accompanying the entrepreneurs in the required regulatory preparation.
According to the business plan presented by the entrepreneurs to the banking supervision, they intend to establish a bank, without branches, based on self-developed innovative technology, and to focus on providing banking services to households and micro and small businesses, which include, among other things, credit placement, deposit management, and the provision of advanced payment services.
The establishment of the new bank was made possible against the background of a broad process of removing barriers by the supervision of banks, which included, among other things, a change in the process for granting a bank license in a way that would create a mechanism to ensure regulatory certainty for entrepreneurs even before the completion of the full operational preparation.
The new bank will be supervised by the supervision of banks in the Bank of Israel to ensure its stability and to safeguard the money of depositors in it, similar to the supervision of other banks in Israel. The new bank, like any other bank in Israel, will have access to all the liquidity tools of the Bank of Israel (monetary loans and monetary deposits). In addition, the new bank will be able to manage an account at the Bank of Israel and connect to the various payment systems, thus being able to provide all the retail services that banks provide to their customers.
Governor of the Bank of Israel, Prof. Amir Yaron: “The reforms and moves that the Bank of Israel has been leading in recent years to promote competition and innovation in the financial system today allow the establishment of another new bank, these processes take time but bear fruit alongside them. This is an ongoing process that we have been leading at the bank in recent years and will continue to promote fully The energy. We see great importance in the entry of banks and additional new players into the banking system in Israel, so that they contribute to increasing competition and innovation in the financial system. It is evident that the group of entrepreneurs is diverse and brings with it strengths in various fields, including entrepreneurs with international technological and business experience. I would like to wish the entrepreneurs great success in establishing The new bank. The establishment of a new bank in Israel constitutes confidence in the Israeli economy and the banking system and its supervision.”
The Supervisor of Banks, Mr. Yair Avidan: “Several years ago, the Supervision of Banks defined as a goal, the establishment of the financial system as a competitive and advanced system for the benefit of customers, and in the process a specific goal was defined of lowering barriers to the establishment of a new bank. Granting licenses to new banks is one of the many steps that we have promoted Together with other partners in recent years to increase competition in the financial system, including: an open banking project, a project to switch from bank to bank in a click and the establishment of a dedicated supervision unit that accompanies the establishment of the new banks from the initiation stage to execution. The many changes that have been implemented in recent times have contributed to the creation of an environment with competitive conditions and allowed for the supervision of The banks to promote the establishment of another new bank, to increase competition and for the benefit of the general public. The supervision of the banks will continue more strongly to promote additional moves to increase competition in the financial system from the point of view of the customer at the center.”
The chairman of the bank, Prof. Shmuel Hauser: “We are excited to receive the bank’s license. We have a long way to go. The uniqueness of our bank is the synergy between technology and banking. This is a groundbreaking Israeli technology, which enables extraordinary operational efficiency that will be rolled out directly to customers. This It will be reflected in attractive interest rates, services without commissions, without subscription fees, and without preconditions such as salary transfer”.