The plan enables customers with debit balances for only part of the month to reduce interest payment.
At the beginning of November Bank Hapoalim (LSE: BKHD; TASE: POLI) will launch an innovative plan for its current account holders. Sources inform “Globes” that, for the first time, the bank will allow interest on positive balances in current accounts to offset interest on negative balances in those accounts.
The plan is designed to enable customers with debit current account balances for part of the month and credit balances for part of the month to reduce their interest payments on their negative balances. The plan, which costs NIS 20 per account per month, can be activated at the customer’s request.
The bank has added five new tracks for the new plan. Any customer joining the plan can choose one of the tracks, according to the volume of business in his current account. Israeli banks do not pay credit interest on current account, except for Union Bank of Israel (TASE: UNON) and United Mizrahi Bank (TASE: MZRH). Union Bank recently announced that it would pay interest on credit balances in current accounts, while Mizrahi Bank already has a plan similar to Bank Hapoalim’s new plan. Bank Hapoalim’s new measure is a unique and innovative step for Israel’s large banks.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on October 20, 2004