Bank Hapoalim, one of Israel’s largest financial institutions, announced on Sunday a new series of grants, fee waivers, and benefits for customers across the country, including reservists, students, displaced citizens, and mortgage holders.
The initiative is part of a broader banking framework encouraged by the Bank of Israel to provide economic relief following months of regional conflict and financial instability.
The relief package will apply automatically to eligible customers during the second quarter of 2025 (April through June) and will be reassessed every quarter.
Key highlights of the plan
- Young adults and students will receive a NIS 250 ($67) grant if their checking or deposit accounts exceed NIS 30,000 ($8,000) as of March 28.
- They will also benefit from waived fees on securities trading and basic account maintenance.
- Reservists who received a military reserve grant in 2024 are entitled to the same NIS 250 benefit and fee waivers on Israeli and foreign securities.
- Residents of northern and southern Israel displaced by the ongoing conflict—including those living within 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) of the Gaza border—will receive fee waivers on checking accounts and credit cards.
- New customers who joined Bank Hapoalim in the fourth quarter of 2024 may receive up to NIS 500 in grants ($134) if their account balances or salary transfers exceed specific thresholds.
- Self-employed individuals who received business loans of over NIS 100,000 in the first quarter of 2025 will get a one-time NIS 500 grant.
- Mortgage holders who took out home loans exceeding NIS 500,000 during Q1 2025 are eligible for a NIS 1,000 grant ($268).
Beyond the direct benefits, Bank Hapoalim reiterated two ongoing initiatives designed to ease the financial burden on customers:
- Lower overdraft interest rates, particularly on salary-linked accounts, now reduced by up to 2.9 percentage points.
- A balance-offsetting mechanism that automatically calculates interest only on the net difference between a customer’s positive and negative account balances—up to NIS 300,000 monthly. This mechanism is activated automatically and does not require any action from the customer.
The relief plan follows the Israeli banking system’s adoption of the Bank of Israel’s national framework, introduced in February, aimed at helping citizens manage their finances amid wartime displacement and high living costs.
Bank Hapoalim emphasized that full details, terms, and eligibility criteria are available on its website.
