"Ash" Bank receives its operating license from the Governor of the Bank of Israel and the Supervisor of Banks (Photo: Oren Tesler)
For 40 years, no new bank was established in Israel, and with record speed, within three years, two digital banks received a license from the state, the second of which is the "Ash Israel" bank, or "Ash" for short, whose operation was approved by the Bank of Israel at the beginning of the week.
Like the one that preceded it, "One Zero", which was launched in 2019, "Ash" will also not open branches, but its entrepreneurs, among them Nir Tsuk, Alex Libernet, Alon Shay, and the chairman, Shmuel Hauser, are sure that they are bringing to the banking market that it will be different from the other banks and a trailblazer.
Apparently, it is not really clear why we need another digital bank, when the traditional banks provide most services digitally anyway and are closing branches.
Bash claims that all the banks, including One Zero, use a reliable but outdated technology built by the Indian company Tata years ago, which requires the employment of hundreds of workers and its costs are high, while they are based on new technology, which provides banking services with extraordinary efficiency, at low costs and with a relatively small capital, when The derived savings, they intend to pass on to the customer. In simple words: what is expensive for you in other banks - you will receive with us in dimes, a statement that it is not certain that the firemen will be able to meet.
Kobi Malkin, the designated CEO (former CEO of Otzar Hay'il Bank) (Photo: Dror Einav)
after the exit
The developers of the sophisticated technology are Yuval Aloni and Alex Liberant, who have already made impressive exits, Aloni in "Inobi", and Liberant in "Shopping Com" and "Double Verify".
They worked on it for several years and financed it out of their own pockets, and over the years, Tzuk and other investors joined them.
They take into account that relying on digital only, could drive away older customers, who need a clerk to give them a human answer.
Customers without a financial background will be able to easily use the system built for this purpose, in a simple and user-friendly way.
While the banks charge commissions and Van Zero 50 shekels for monthly subscription fees, Bash declares that not only will they not demand a shekel from the customers for managing the account, but they will also know how to give them an attractive interest rate on the deposits, because their expenses should be much smaller than the other banks in all parameters.
In the spirit of Impact, the customer is seen there as a "partner", so it doesn't matter if you are Riki from Hadera, or a tycoon from Herzliya, a supervisor, an employee or self-employed,
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The competitors from one-zero.
On the one hand, Ash claims technological superiority that will allow them not to charge account management fees.
On the other hand, One-Zero already has tens of thousands of active customers (Photo: ONE ZERO)
without securities
At "Ash" they adopt the progressive concept, according to which banks should have specialization in certain areas, like in the USA, and therefore they do not intend to provide all the banking services on the shelf. They intend to focus on checking accounts, deposits, credit cards and loans, without entering, For example, for the securities sector.
And if we mentioned loans, the terms that the "partners" will receive will be equal - the one who takes 2,000 shekels and the one who asks for 100,000, as they are aimed at the market segment of the small and tiny businesses that some banks tend to "rip off" with interest on the loans.
It will be another year and a half before Ash's first customers will be able to open a bank account with it, and like any new venture, it is likely that the first technological bank, like the first digital bank, will have birth defects and it will take time for customers to feel secure enough to switch to it.
Unlike "One Zero" which focuses on the Israeli market, "Ash" has international ambitions.
The Israeli market, for him, is a training ground for jumping out into the big world and in this sense, we will be his financial guinea pigs.
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