32°3′42.30″N34°46′13.72″E / 32.0617500°N 34.7704778°E /32.0617500; 34.7704778
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Native name | בנק דיסקונט לישראל בע"מ |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| TASE: DSCT | |
| Industry | Banking Financial services |
| Founded | Tel Aviv,Mandatory Palestine 5 April 1935; 90 years ago (1935-04-05) |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Shaul Kobrinsky (Chairman) Uri Levin (CEO[2]) |
| Products | Credit cards,consumer banking,corporate banking,finance and insurance,investment banking,mortgage loans,private banking,private equity,savings,securities,asset management,wealth management |
| Services | Financial services |
| Revenue |  ₪ 9.02 billion (2018) |
| ₪ 1.5 billion (2018) | |
| Total assets | ₪ 239.1 billion (2018) |
| Total equity | ₪ 17.1 billion (2018) |
| Website | www |
Israel Discount Bank, Ltd. (Hebrew:בנק דיסקונט לישראל) is an Israeli banking institution that offers a range of financial services, includingretail banking,commercial banking,private banking, andfinancial services. The bank, headquartered inTel Aviv, operates 112 branches throughoutIsrael.[3]
Founded on 5 April 1935 inTel Aviv,Mandatory Palestine, the bank has grown to become a significant player in the Israeli banking industry. It is apublic company listed on theTel Aviv Stock Exchange under the symbol DSCT and is included in theTel Aviv 35 Index.[4]
The bank's product portfolio includescredit cards,consumer banking,corporate banking,finance and insurance,investment banking,mortgage loans,private banking,private equity,savings,securities,asset management, andwealth management. It serves its customers through various channels includingphysical branches,online banking, andmobile banking.
As of 2018, the bank reported revenues of₪ 9.02 billion, operating income of₪ 1.5 billion, assets of₪ 239.1 billion, and equity of₪ 17.1 billion. The current CEO isUri Levin, with Shaul Kobrinsky serving as the chairman.[5]
Discount Bank was established on 5 April 1935, asEretz Yisrael Discount Bank Ltd., byLeon Recanati and his partners, Yosef Albo and Moshe Carasso.[6][7][8][9][10] In its early days, Discount Bank operated out of a small hotel on Nachlat Binyamin Street in Tel Aviv. It later moved to its permanent location at 39 Yehuda Halevi Street. Today, Discount Bank's headquarters are located at theDiscount Bank Tower, a 30-storyskyscraper located at 23 Yehuda HaLevi Street in Tel Aviv, which completed construction in 2006.
Discount Bank derives its name from the word "disconto" - discount of bills.[11] Discount Bank began its operations at a time of relative economic prosperity due to foreign capital that was brought into the country by members of theFifth Aliyah in 1935, and grew significantly in its initial years of operation.
Economic growth declined with the outbreak of theArab Revolt in 1936, and worsened even more after the outbreak ofWorld War II. Despite the deterioration of the economy, Bank Discount profits rose due to its policy of granting loans on good terms in response to the legislation imposed by theBritish Mandate, which limited withdrawal of deposits.[12] Alongside its financial activity, the bank contributed to the strength of theYishuv through the establishment ofKadima, an organization that granted scholarships, opened an assistance center for the needy and, in conjunction with theJewish Agency for Israel, helped establish agricultural settlements for immigrants from Arab countries.[13]
In 1944, Discount Bank acquired the Haifa-based Mercantile Bank[14] and several years later also acquired the local operations of theOttoman Bank,[15]Barclays Bank andHollandsche Bank-Unie.[16][17]
In 1945, Recanati died and management moved to his sons.[18]
In the 1950s, Discount Bank opened additional branches in Europe. It began investing in Israeli companies through the Israeli Company for Financing and Investment, which it had acquired. In those years, thanks to the bank's accelerated opening of branches around Israel and extension of its opening hours to the afternoon, the bank grew to become the second largest bank in Israel.[19][20] At the beginning of the 1960s, the bank expanded its activity both in Israel and overseas. In 1961, for the first time in the banking industry, the investment company,Discount Investments, was founded. What's more, the bank was awarded the right to issueDiners Club credit cards[18] and was the first bank to offer its shares to the public. In 1964, the bank was awarded theKaplan Prize for being the first bank to computerize its operations.
In the 1970s, the bank continued its momentum of growth and expansion, integration of advanced technologies and modern computer systems and improvement of customer service. In 1970, the bank acquired 50% ofBarclays Bank and the name of the bank changed to Barclays-Discount. It later acquired full ownership.[21] Additionally, Mercantile Bank was sold to Barclays-Discount Bank.[14]
In 1974, the Discountomat, Israel's first ATM, was launched.[22] In 1979, Visa Cal was founded in partnership withBank Leumi.[23][11]
In 1981, the bank's virtual branch, Discount Telebank, was established, making it the first banking call center in Israel and in the world.[24] The same year, the bank also began operating its Bankonit - a mobile bank that operated for several years in theLachish region.[22] In 1983, "satellites" were opened for the first time in Israel, enabling customers to conduct banking transactions independently, outside of standard work hours. That same year, the bank - along with other banks - was nationalized by the Israeli government, due to thebank stock crisis.[25]
Following the1983 Israel bank stock crisis, the bank's ownership was transferred to the government of Israel.[26]
In 1987, the Discount Group established the investment organization, Tachlit Investment House, which was engaged, among other things, in the sale of financial products, investment portfolio management and more.[27]
In the first decade of the 21st century, activity centered around privatization of the bank and the sale of the government's holdings in it. In 2004, the process of privatizing the bank began,[28] and this was completed in 2006, with the acquisition of 26% of the bank's shares by the Bronfman-Sharan Group.[29][30] That same year, shares were also sold toDeutsche Bank.[31] In 2010, the government sold the balance of its holdings in the bank.[32]
In 2010, Mafteach Discount (Discount Key) was launched, offering benefits and discounts to credit cardholders, while combining an opportunity to makes small but regular deposits into a savings account with each purchase.[33]
In 2012, the bank was forced to sell Tachlit ETNs to Dash Investment House, after the Supervisor of the Banks ordered it to sell its holdings in the company (20%) by 2013.[34]
Uri Levin was named CEO of Discount Bank in July 2019 and has served in this position since December 2019.[35][36]
Discount Bank has gained media attention for its focus ondigital banking andfintech partnerships. In 2017, Discount Bank signed agreements with several fintechs, including Icount and PayBox,[37] to improve payment services and open banking abilities.
Of note, Discount Bank's creation of anartificial intelligence-driven digital assistant occurred through the successful partnership withPersonetics Technologies.[38] The AI, called Didi, was the first of its kind forIsrael's banking industry.[39]
In 2019, Discount Bank launched Business+, a mobile banking app for business banking customers that earned several awards, including the EMEA Gartner Eye on Innovation 2018,[40] the 2017[41] and 2018[42] IT Awards byPeople and Computers.
In 2021, IDB and its subsidiaryMercantile Discount Bank reached a settlement of ₪343 million (A$137 million) with theAustralian Tax Office (ATO), after allegedly conspiring with theSydney-based Binetter family to engage intax fraud. The banks reportedly allowed the family to route "back-to-back" loans through their accounts, "in effect lending their own money and paying interest to themselves", in exchange for a percentage of the balance. The family then fraudulently claimed the interest expense as a tax deduction, with a bank executive giving false sworn evidence that the transactions wereat arm's length. The bank "made no admission of culpability in the settlement agreement" but stated it would appoint a former judge to conduct an independent inquiry into the matter.[46]
In 1935, therefore, Recanati decided to create his own bank, called Palestine Discount Bank.
ראש המשפחה, ליאון רקנאטי, הקים בשותפות עם משה קרסו את בנק דיסקונט באמצע שנות ה-30.
The bank was unique in that it was open to private customers, unlike the other few dozen banks operating in Palestine at that time, which mostly catered to business people and companies.
Lastly, the five big foreign banks are the Anglo-Palestine Bank; Barclay's Bank; the Ottoman Bank; the Holland Bank Union and the (Polish) Polska Kasa Opieki Bank.
ניהול הבנק בראשותו של הארי זכה להצלחה, ולקראת שנת 1952 הפך לבנק השני בגודלו בארץ.
Renamed the Israel Discount Bank Ltd., the bank was Israel's second largest by the end of 1952, with over 40 branches throughout the country.
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