Israel Services & Professionals Banks

The 10 Best Banks in Israel (2026)

Updated October 2026 · 10 picks

The best bank in Israel in 2026 depends on what you need: Bank Leumi and Bank Hapoalim are the two largest and have the widest branch and English-language cover, Mizrahi-Tefahot is the one to see about a mortgage, Israel Discount Bank and First International (FIBI) undercut them on fees, and the digital banks One Zero and Esh are the cheapest way to hold a current account if you never need a branch. Ten, below.

1. Bank Leumi — Head office in Tel Aviv, branches nationwide

The largest Israeli bank by assets, and the most comfortable of the big two for English speakers.

Specialty Everyday banking, business banking, capital marketsLanguages Hebrew · English · Russian · ArabicBest for Households, olim, companies and institutional clients

Leumi traces back to the Jewish Colonial Trust founded in 1902 and is now the largest of the Israeli banking groups by total assets. It runs a full branch network, a long-established digital arm, and overseas subsidiaries in the United States and the United Kingdom — which is why it is often the simplest choice for someone who needs an Israeli account and an account abroad to talk to each other.

For a new immigrant, the attraction is institutional depth rather than price: a new-immigrant desk, branches where English is routine, and an app that every Israeli landlord, employer and insurer recognises. You will not get the cheapest fee schedule in the country, but you will rarely be stuck.

Good to know: Fees are negotiable and almost nobody asks. Go in with the Bank of Israel's fee comparison for your usage and ask for the account to be repriced.

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2. Bank Hapoalim — Head office in Tel Aviv, branches nationwide

The other half of the big two, with the broadest branch footprint and the Bit payment app behind it.

Specialty Everyday banking, mortgages, business bankingLanguages Hebrew · English · Russian · ArabicBest for Households, olim, small businesses and corporates

Hapoalim was founded in 1921 by the Histadrut and the Zionist Organisation and is, with Leumi, one of the two banks that between them hold most of the retail market. It has historically had the widest branch network in the country, including in smaller towns where the other banks have pulled back.

It also owns Bit, the peer-to-peer payment app that became the default way Israelis send each other money — useful in daily life regardless of which bank you bank with, since Bit works across banks. Hapoalim also holds a majority stake in Bank Yahav, the bank for public-sector employees.

Good to know: If you are moving to a town outside the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem–Haifa triangle, check which bank still has a staffed branch there before you choose. It is often this one.

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3. Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank — Head office in Ramat Gan, strong in Jerusalem and the religious centres

The country's biggest mortgage lender, and the bank to see first if you are buying.

Specialty Mortgages and home financeLanguages Hebrew · English · FrenchBest for Home buyers, families, the religious and traditional sector

Mizrahi-Tefahot is the third-largest Israeli banking group and the dominant player in housing finance — Tefahot was a specialist mortgage bank before the merger that created the current group, and the mortgage business is still what it is known for. It absorbed Union Bank of Israel in 2020, which added branches and business customers.

It has deep roots in the religious and traditional sector and a visible presence in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and the newer religious towns, including branches that keep hours around the Jewish calendar. French and English service is easier to find here than at some competitors, a legacy of French aliyah to Jerusalem and Netanya.

Good to know: Never take the first mortgage quote. Get this bank's offer in writing, then take it to Leumi or Hapoalim and back again — the spread between first and final offer is routinely meaningful.

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4. Israel Discount Bank — Head office in Tel Aviv, branches nationwide

The best-value of the large banks, and the one with a real New York arm.

Specialty Everyday banking, US–Israel banking, paymentsLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Households, Americans in Israel, mid-market companies

Discount is the fourth of the five Israeli banking groups and tends to price more keenly than Leumi and Hapoalim, which makes it a common recommendation for people who want a large bank without the large-bank fee schedule. It owns Mercantile Discount Bank as a separate retail brand and is behind the PayBox payment and group-money app.

Its distinctive asset for anyone with American ties is IDB Bank in New York, a US bank in the same group — which makes conversations about transfers, dual residency and cross-border mortgages easier to start than at a bank with no US presence.

Good to know: If you hold both US and Israeli accounts, ask the branch to connect you with the group's US desk rather than working the two sides separately.

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5. First International Bank of Israel (FIBI) — Head office in Tel Aviv; group brands nationwide

The smallest of the five groups, with a reputation for investment and securities customers.

Specialty Securities and investment accounts, private bankingLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Investors, professionals, army and public-sector staff via group brands

FIBI is the fifth and smallest of the Israeli banking groups, and historically the one most oriented toward customers who hold securities portfolios rather than just a current account. Its capital-markets and trading platform is a genuine reason people bank here rather than a marketing line.

The group also owns Bank Otsar Hahayal, which grew out of banking for career soldiers, and Bank Massad, which serves teachers and the education sector. If you are eligible through one of those channels, the terms offered are often better than you would get walking into a branch of a bigger bank.

Good to know: Ask whether you qualify through an employer or union arrangement at Otsar Hahayal or Massad before opening a standard FIBI account.

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6. One Zero — Branchless, app-based, nationwide

Israel's first new bank in more than four decades, built around an app and a named banker.

Specialty Digital current accounts with human private-banking serviceLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Salaried professionals who never want to visit a branch

One Zero received its licence and began operating in 2022, the first wholly new Israeli bank in over forty years. It has no branches. The pitch is that the technology handles the routine work while every customer still gets a named banker reachable in the app, which is closer to how private banking works than to how a normal Israeli retail account feels.

In practice it suits someone with a straightforward salaried financial life who is tired of branch queues and account-management fees. It is a smaller institution than the big five, so check it covers the specific things you need — a mortgage, a business account, a particular kind of foreign transfer — before you move everything across.

Good to know: Open it alongside your existing account for a month before switching your salary. Switching the standing orders is the slow part, not opening the account.

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7. Esh Bank Israel — Branchless, app-based, nationwide

The second new digital bank, built on no fees and sharing its interest income with customers.

Specialty Zero-fee digital current accountsLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for Fee-conscious customers comfortable being early

Esh was licensed at the end of 2022 as the second new Israeli bank of the digital wave, backed by Palo Alto Networks founder Nir Zuk. Its model is unusually blunt: no account-management fees, and a share of the interest the bank earns on customer balances passed back to the customer rather than kept as margin.

Through 2026 it has been opening accounts on an invitation basis while it works through the remaining conditions on its licence, with a wider public launch the stated intention. Treat it as the most interesting thing happening in Israeli retail banking and the least settled — worth watching, and worth reading the current terms on its own site rather than a summary.

Good to know: Because access and terms are still changing, check esh.com directly for what is open to new customers before you plan around it.

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8. Bank of Jerusalem — Head office in Jerusalem, small branch network

The specialist in non-resident accounts and mortgages for people who live abroad.

Specialty Non-resident banking, deposits, foreign-currency mortgagesLanguages Hebrew · English · FrenchBest for Overseas buyers, non-residents, savers chasing deposit rates

Bank of Jerusalem is one of the two small independent commercial banks left outside the five groups, and it has built its business in the gaps they leave. The best known of those is non-resident lending: mortgages and accounts for people who own or are buying property in Israel while living in the United States, France or the United Kingdom.

It is also a regular on deposit-rate comparisons, since a small bank raising funds competes on price in a way a big one does not. The trade-off is a thin branch network and a narrower product set — this is a bank you choose for one specific job.

Good to know: If you are buying in Israel from abroad, talk to this bank before assuming no Israeli bank will lend to you.

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9. Mercantile Discount Bank — Branches concentrated in the periphery and Arab-majority towns

Discount's retail brand, and the strongest high-street presence in much of the periphery.

Specialty Retail and small-business banking outside the centreLanguages Hebrew · Arabic · EnglishBest for Households and small businesses in the north, south and Arab sector

Mercantile is a wholly owned subsidiary of Israel Discount Bank, run as its own bank with its own branches rather than as a Discount sub-brand. Its branch map is the point: it is well represented in towns in the Galilee, the Negev and the Arab-majority localities where the largest banks have thinned out.

For a customer in those areas it often means a staffed branch within reach, with Arabic service as standard, while sitting inside a large, well-capitalised group. Products are broadly Discount's.

Good to know: Being inside the Discount group, it can usually route you to group services your own branch does not handle — ask rather than opening a second account elsewhere.

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10. Bank Yahav — Head office in Jerusalem, branches at and near public-sector employers

The bank for state employees — if you are eligible, the terms are hard to beat.

Specialty Banking for civil servants, teachers and public-sector staffLanguages Hebrew · EnglishBest for State employees and their households

Yahav began as the bank of the state's employees and still works that way: it is majority-owned by Bank Hapoalim, and eligibility is tied to public-sector employment, which covers a very large share of working Israelis — teachers, health-service staff, ministry employees and more.

Because it is not trying to win customers off the street, it competes on the terms it offers the people who qualify rather than on marketing. If you are a state employee, it belongs on your shortlist for exactly that reason, and it is frequently overlooked.

Good to know: Check eligibility through your employer's HR or union rather than at the branch — the arrangement usually comes with a negotiated fee schedule attached.

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Frequently asked questions

Which is the best bank in Israel?

There is no single answer, because Israeli banks compete on fees and service rather than on products — a current account is much the same everywhere. Leumi and Hapoalim are the largest and the safest default if you want branches, phone support in English and an app that every Israeli service recognises. If you mostly care about what the account costs you, the smaller banks and the two digital banks are consistently cheaper.

Which Israeli bank is best for new immigrants and English speakers?

Leumi and Hapoalim both run dedicated new-immigrant desks and have branches where you can be served in English, which is why most olim end up at one of them. Branches vary enormously inside the same bank, so the practical advice is to pick the branch, not just the bank: ask in your local community which branch has an English-speaking banker, and open the account there.

Can you open an Israeli bank account before you make aliyah?

Generally no — the banks want to see you in person with a teudat zehut or a passport and a visa, and anti-money-laundering rules make remote onboarding difficult for a non-resident. Bank of Jerusalem is the usual exception: it has long specialised in non-resident accounts, deposits and foreign-currency mortgages for people who own property in Israel but live elsewhere.

How much do Israeli bank fees cost?

Israeli banks charge for things that are free in much of Europe and North America — a monthly account-management fee, a per-transaction charge on some operations, and fees on foreign currency. The Bank of Israel publishes a comparison and caps a basic 'basic track' bundle, and every bank will negotiate if you ask. The two digital banks compete specifically by not charging a monthly fee at all.

Which bank gives the best mortgage in Israel?

Mizrahi-Tefahot is the largest mortgage lender in the country and the one most brokers approach first, but mortgage pricing in Israel is quoted per borrower, not published, so a rate you are offered at one bank is only a starting point. Get written offers from at least three — typically Mizrahi-Tefahot, Leumi or Hapoalim, and one of the smaller banks — and have a mortgage advisor run them against each other.

Are Israeli bank deposits insured?

Israel has no general deposit-insurance scheme of the American FDIC kind. The system relies instead on the Bank of Israel's supervision of a small number of very well-capitalised banks, and in practice no Israeli depositor has lost money in a bank failure. That is a real difference from the US or the EU and worth understanding rather than assuming.

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