New online-only bank set to shake up banking sector
Israel will get a new independent bank for the first time in 43 years as the First Digital Bank has begun a trial run of operations with accounts for its employees and a goal of opening to the public by the end of 2021.
The online bank, which will have no actual branches, will offer full 24-hour customer service through online chat and a call center to create a tailor-made service experience for each individual customer, the bank said. Opening an account will be done entirely online, with no human intervention, and it will provide an instant credit-limit approval process.
Those interested can register on the bank’s waiting list on its website www.digibank.co.il.
The bank will offer all currently existing banking services, including personal accounts, joint accounts, loans, deposits, credit cards, stocks, guarantees, standing orders and foreign currencies.
Mortgages will be added to the service in the future, as Bank of Israel regulations do not allow them to be taken online, said Eyal Gafni, chief operating officer of the bank. However, the bank will offer a number of new financing options that are currently unavailable in Israel, he added, but he did not offer examples.
The bank, which has received approvals from the Bank of Israel, was founded by Prof. Amnon
Shashua, one of Israel’s most successful entrepreneurs.
Shashua founded autonomous-driving technology company Mobileye, which was sold to Intel in 2017 for more than $15 billion in the largest acquisition in Israeli history. He also founded Orcam, which makes solutions to help blind and visually impaired people and is expected to have an IPO in New York later this year at a company valuation of about $3b.
First Digital Bank is built upon the foundations of advanced artificial-intelligence technologies, the company said.
“Just like Mobileye uses AI to prevent humans from making the mistakes that cause fatal traffic accidents, similar principles will be used for financial management,”
the military’s ‘Tnufa’ multi-year plan,” he said. “It also fulfills the IDF’s needs, adapting combat capabilities to contend with enemies hidden within civilian, urban environments, while meeting the legal and moral standards set by the State of Israel.”
“Ten years of research and development have led us to this moment when we can provide the IDF’s ground forces with advanced capabilities made for the modern battlefield,” said head of research and development in the DDR&D, Brig.-Gen. Yaniv Rotem. “This laser and GPS-guided mortar munition provides troops with a precise firing capability that has only been implemented in missiles and air munitions thus far. This is a very complex program and a groundbreaking system on the international level.”
Head of the Weapons Department in the IDF’s Ground Forces, Col. Arik Aviv said, “The
Ground Forces command is leading the process of integrating the ‘Iron Sting’ into the IDF. This precise guided mortar munition is groundbreaking for IDF battalions, equipping them with accurate and organic firepower. This capability has so far been reserved for large and complex missiles. Thanks to this impressive technological development, it will now be implemented in mortar munitions on a wide scale.” •