Competition in the financial sector in securities trading has stepped up. Over the past year, as the stock market boomed, competition to the banks from investment houses and from digital bank OneZero has grown. The major banks are apparently feeling the trend, which is liable to cut into their fee income from securities transactions by customers, and this morning two of the five largest banks, Hapoalim and First International Bank of Israel, have launched new marketing moves in this area.
Bank Hapoalim is offering customers two of its own shares as a benefit (worth NIS 124 on the stock exchange), while First International is offering young customers aged 18-30 zero fees on their accounts and a flat commission on securities transactions, instead of a commission based on a percentage of the transaction value.
Bank Hapoalim’s move is highly unusual. It states that in the coming weeks it will grant the shares as a gift to more than a million customers. The cost of the campaign is estimated at over NIS 100 million. The aim is “to strengthen the tie between the bank’s success, even at a token value, and its customers, and to express appreciation for their custom.” A further declared aim of the bank is to arouse interest in investment in the capital market among the public. The bank seeks “to make the capital market and investment more accessible and to raise awareness of them among the general public.”
How will it work? Bank Hapoalim customers, including those who join by the end of this month, will be entitled to the benefit. The bank has published a draft prospectus on the stock exchange for the purposes of the share allocation. The two shares will be exempt from commissions for twenty years or until they are sold on the stock exchange, whichever is the earlier.
Bank Hapoalim customers do, however, have to take an active step and state that they want the shares. Otherwise, they will receive a cash benefit of NIS 100.
The program applies to customers aged 18 and over whose account is in order and allows trading in Israeli securities. They must have a balance of at least NIS 1,000 in their current accounts or in a deposit account, a savings program, or a securities portfolio, and hold a valid credit or debit card issued by the bank on which there has been a transaction worth at least NIS 1 in the three months preceding the determining date for the program. An active loan account also qualifies a customer for the benefit.
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First International Bank’s program, called Top Trade, gives customers aged 18-30 a benefit in the form of fixed commissions of NIS 5 for trades in Israeli stocks and $5 for trades in US stocks. The bank will not charge agent’s commissions or custodian fees. The program applies to securities portfolios of up to NIS 200,000 in which trades are carried out digitally.
The exemption from custodian fees is a substantial one and a highly competitive move. The fee can amount to 2.3% annually of the value of the portfolio at the most expensive bank, currently Bank Massad, for a portfolio of NIS 100,000 to NIS 200,000. The figures can be found in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s fees and commissions calculator, which reveals that some investment houses such as Psagot, and Bank OneZero, offer exemptions from custodian fees.
Yoram Sirkis, executive vice president and head of assets management at First International Bank of Israel said this morning, “The bank offers its customers, including its young customers, the most advanced trading systems in existence, using advanced AI technologies, systems that make relevant information for investment purposes readily accessible.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on August 24, 2025.
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