Bank Hapoalim (LSE: 80OA; TASE: POLI) is the first bank to publish its new fee scale on its website. One important fee that has increased is the securities custody fee which has gone up from 0.55% to 0.6% a year. The fee was 0.5% until November 2006. The minimum fee has been set at NIS 11.30. However, Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) was already charging 0.6% under the old fee scale, so Bank Hapoalim has actually fallen in line with its competitors.
For the convenience of customers, the bank has published alongside the full 72-page price list, a select list of fees by category - account management fees, credit card fees, and mortgage fees. The bank has also listed the benefits for special groups such as soldiers, students, pensioners, young people, people over the age of 60, and new immigrants. The other banks are expected to publish their fee scales tomorrow, with the Bank of Israel due to launch a site on Sunday where customers can view the full list of fees and compare the banks' rates.
Among the fees that Bank Hapoalim will now be charging are:
Credit service charge (only in cases where the credit line has not been drawn down) - NIS 12.
Small business credit charge - 1.75%
Bounced check - NIS 55
Debit cancellation order (direct debit or check) - NIS 17.4
Document retrieval - NIS 28 per request plus NIS 0.50 per page.
Securities purchase - 0.7% with a minimum of NIS 26, meaning that any purchase of securities worth less than NIS 3,700 will carry the minimum charge.
As for credit cards, Bank Hapoalim will charge NIS 13 monthly for a local Isracard, NIS 17 a month for a Mastercard, and NIS 19 a month for a Gold Mastercard. The Isracard Youth card will cost NIS 4.10 a month and Life Style will cost NIS 28. Each card has been set a monthly target debit beyond which the customer will receive a discount of 15-100%. Visa cards issued by Bank Hapoalim will cost more. The charge will be NIS 17 a month for a Visa card, NIS 19 a month for a Visa Gold card, and NIS 24 a month for a Visa Platinum card.
Bank Hapoalim has also cancelled a number of fees, including the transaction recording fee for small businesses, the document handling fee for credit lines to individuals, and the periodic loan repayment fee. The bank has also cancelled its fee track program.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 25, 2008
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008