Israeli banks to save NIS 1 billion a year from cost-cutting, says regulator

Supervisor of Banks Hedva Ber said on Sunday she expects the banking system to save at least NIS 1 billion ($261 million) a year starting in 2020 from mandatory job reductions, branch closures and embracing more technology.

Last year, Ber ordered banks to become more efficient. She said about 5,100 jobs will be cut from Israel’s largest banks over the next five years, or a net 10% of the total workforce.

At the same time, 200 bank branches, or 20%, will be closed or merged, Ber told the Globes business conference.

“Banks in Israel compared to the rest of the world are not efficient,” she said, noting that Israeli banks’ expenses stand at 69.4%, versus 63.8% for the OECD group of wealthy nations. “Banks need to adapt to a new world.”

That includes a move to digital branches and services where customers can bank by phone apps and the Internet, which would lower fees and overall costs, Ber said. Israelis have long complained about banks charging too many fees, including for making deposits and withdrawing money from their own accounts.

To encourage banks to become more efficient and offer early retirement plans, Ber offered to allow higher dividend payouts, the spreading of the cost of the streamlining steps and an ability to implement them without negatively affecting banks’ abilities to meet capital adequacy requirements.

Israel’s largest bank, Bank Hapoalim, said in October that 1,500 workers will take early retirement from 20172020 at a cost of NIS 1.2b., in addition to 300 workers expected to leave the bank voluntarily in 2016.

Bank Leumi, the second-largest bank, plans for about 700 workers to retire early this year as part of a multiyear efficiency. Israel Discount Bank, the fourth-largest, expects to reduce its workforce by 1,000.