Open your Israeli bank account

The order that avoids the traps

1. 1Book your Teudat Zehut biometric appointment first. Almost everything below waits on it.
2. 2Get an Israeli SIM so you have a local number for the bank’s login.
3. 3Choose a branch with an olim or English-speaking desk and book an appointment.
4. 4Bring the full packet. Budget about two hours in the branch for the paperwork.
5. 5Once the account is open, set up the app, then Bit or Paybox, then a debit card.

Where people get stuck

• The bank wants your Teudat Zehut, but the Misrad HaPnim appointment to get it can be weeks or months out.

  Ask the bank to open the account against your appointment confirmation. Many branches will, and it breaks the deadlock.

• A health fund has been reported refusing to register someone without a bank account, while the bank was still pending.

  Register with your kupat cholim at the airport desk on arrival, before this circular problem can start.

• Fee waivers for olim are not always applied automatically.

  Ask explicitly for the oleh account terms and confirm which fees are waived and for how long.

Where to open one

All run olim desks. We do not rank them, and neither did the research.

• Bank Leumi

  Olim desk; ask for an English-speaking banker.

• Bank Hapoalim

  Olim desk in Anglo-heavy branches.

• Mizrahi-Tefahot

  Widely used by olim, strong on mortgages later.

• Israel Discount Bank

  Olim account terms available on request.

• One Zero

  A digital bank that operates in English, no branch visit.