Bank Leumi CEO Solicits Customer Feedback on Social Media

Hanan Friedman, the CEO of Bank Leumi, has launched an unusual initiative on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), directly engaging with customers to solicit feedback on how to improve the bank's services. In less than 24 hours, the appeal garnered over 800 responses, including suggestions for improvement and criticism on various issues.

Friedman asked followers what they believed could be improved to make the service more convenient. Common themes raised by respondents included website and app glitches, account management fees, the presentation of money transfers, and enhancements to the bank's trading systems. The discussion also extended to capital markets and digital currencies.

In response to a user's query about difficulties depositing funds from cryptocurrency, Friedman announced that Bank Leumi will become the first Israeli bank to enable customers to trade in cryptocurrencies. He stated that the ability to buy, hold, and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana through the Leumi Trade app will be available "very soon." Other requests focused on trading conditions, such as real-time U.S. market data and increased limits for Nasdaq stock orders. Friedman also indicated that the bank is working on improvements for younger customers and is considering extending after-hours trading in the U.S. beyond 11:40 PM.

The bank's telephone service also drew criticism, with customers reporting long wait times even after lengthy identification processes. Friedman apologized in one instance and requested user details for investigation. He also provided the bank's phone number to a frustrated customer seeking to contact the bank. Other complaints involved discrepancies between website information and branch service, and delays in account opening follow-ups, for which Friedman also apologized and promised to address.

Friedman did not respond to requests to cancel account management fees, and some customers reported repeated efforts to obtain fee waivers. The conversation also touched upon the bank's profits and executive salaries. Friedman noted that the public owns Bank Leumi through its shares and that the bank's profits are distributed to the public. He also claimed that salary gaps within the financial sector are relatively low compared to other public companies, referencing a Knesset law from the previous decade limiting senior executive salaries. Bank Leumi distributed a dividend of 4.5 billion shekels in the past year.

Analyst Avishai Ovadia suggested that Friedman's outreach reflects the anticipated impact of fintech giant Revolut's planned entry into Israel. Friedman, however, downplayed a direct link, stating that Bank Leumi has been working on service improvements for years and views new market entrants as a positive development that sharpens and enhances the bank's performance. Friedman's move has been compared to similar public appeals made by tech leaders abroad, including Elon Musk, Satya Nadella, Brian Chesky, and Asha Sharma.