Bank Leumi will give qualifying customers a one-time payment of 700 shekels, after making a similar move in October, when it paid 500 shekels. The bank said the deposit will appear in accounts in July 2026, and the message sent to customers framed it as part of the Bank of Israel relief framework and based on recent account activity.
Eligibility includes, among other conditions, an average monthly salary deposit of at least 5,000 shekels, average monthly spending of a similar amount on a bank credit card, and holding an additional product from the bank, such as a mortgage for more than a year or a deposit for more than six months.
The bank’s notice said, “We are pleased to update you that במסגרת מתווה ההקלות של בנק ישראל, we decided to grant you a one-time cash bonus of 700 shekels, based on the scope of activity in your account during the past few months… during July 2026 your account will be credited accordingly.” Estimates put the total cost of the move at 150 million to 200 million shekels.
Leumi previously said it was considering repeating the cash benefit. The broader Bank of Israel program requires banks to provide the public with benefits totaling 3 billion shekels over two years. Leumi has also offered other relief under the plan, including interest on positive checking balances, lower overdraft interest, and mortgage relief. Other banks have also introduced various benefits under the framework, as public and political pressure has grown over the banks’ high profitability, boosted by high interest rates, and over the low returns they pay on deposits and positive checking balances.
Despite those steps, the Israel Competition Authority went further last month and designated the five largest banks as a “group of restraint” for the first time in more than a decade. Competition Commissioner Michal Cohen said the decision would bring new regulatory restrictions and requirements. Bank of Israel officials criticized the move, calling it extreme and disproportionate.
