How big is Israel's fintech market, who controls it, and where can a new fintech still enter?
Five banking groups hold 97% of the assets of Israel's banks and credit card companies, and cards carried NIS 560 billion of spending in 2024. The entry points are regulated and measurable: 42 licensed open-banking data providers making about 200 million API calls a month, and credit card companies whose share of household consumer debt rose to 18% from 12% in 2019.
Bank of Israel (annual banking surveys 2024–H1 2025, payments overview, debt developments Q2 2026, fee report, Supervisor of Banks open banking data), World Bank Findex and Enterprise Surveys, OECD, Israel Innovation Authority, SEC filings of Nayax, Global-e and Riskified, IVC Research Center — 2022–2026 reference periods · verified as of
Who holds the customer: concentration of Israeli banking
Shares of the Israeli banking system by banking group, end-2024. The five groups include their credit card subsidiaries, so card and bank customers largely sit with the same owners.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Five largest banking groups — share of total assets of banks and credit card companies | 97% | banks + credit card companies | 2024-12 | boi.org.il |
| Bank Hapoalim — share of household deposits | 27.8% | largest group | 2024-12 | boi.org.il |
| Mizrahi-Tefahot — share of household deposits | 21.3% | 2024-12 | boi.org.il | |
| Israel Discount Bank — share of household deposits | 15.4% | 2024-12 | boi.org.il | |
| First International Bank — share of household deposits | 11.0% | 2024-12 | boi.org.il | |
| Bank of Jerusalem — share of household deposits | 1.8% | small bank | 2024-12 | boi.org.il |
| Bank Hapoalim — share of small and micro business credit | 24.5% | largest SME lender | 2024-12 | boi.org.il |
| Mizrahi-Tefahot — share of small and micro business credit | 16.5% | 2024-12 | boi.org.il | |
| Return on equity of the banking system | 15.9% | first half of the year | 2025-H1 | boi.org.il |
Payments: card volume, who issues the cards and how people pay
Cards are the main retail payment instrument; Israelis prefer one deferred monthly charge, which is why immediate-debit cards stay a minority. Bit and PayBox are bank-owned payment apps.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payment card transaction volume | NIS 560 billion | all cards | 2024 | boi.org.il |
| Payment card transaction volume, two years earlier | NIS 424 billion | all cards | 2022 | boi.org.il |
| Active payment cards | 11.4 million | cards with at least one transaction in Q4 | 2024-12 | boi.org.il |
| Bank-issued share of active payment cards | 63% | 2024-12 | boi.org.il | |
| Bank-issued cards — share of card transaction volume | 71% | 2024 | boi.org.il | |
| Transaction volume on bank-issued credit cards | NIS 395 billion | 2024 | boi.org.il | |
| Transaction volume on nonbank (club and direct-issue) credit cards | NIS 163 billion | the segment outside the banks | 2024 | boi.org.il |
| Adults who prefer a single deferred monthly card charge over immediate debit | 70% | adults, survey | 2024 | boi.org.il |
| Adults who own a debit card | 48.6% | adults 15+ | 2024 | data.worldbank.org |
| Bit/PayBox transfers that are person-to-business payments | 42% | bank-owned payment apps | 2023-10 | boi.org.il |
| Bank payment transfers made in digital (direct) channels | 97% | share of all transfers | 2025 | boi.org.il |
The small-business customer: size, how they get paid, what they pay
Bank of Israel survey of small business owners and the World Bank Enterprise Survey for Israel. The payment-acceptance survey is from 2022 and has no later edition in the graph.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small business owners working alone (no employees) | 77% | small business owners, survey | 2025 | boi.org.il |
| Small business owners with 2–5 employees | 18% | 2025 | boi.org.il | |
| Small business owners with 6–9 employees | 3% | 2025 | boi.org.il | |
| Small businesses paid by bank transfer in the past yearhistorical | 78.96% | small businesses, survey | 2022 | boi.org.il |
| Small businesses paid in cash in the past yearhistorical | 70.74% | 2022 | boi.org.il | |
| Small businesses paid via payment apps (Bit/PayBox type) in the past yearhistorical | 63.53% | 2022 | boi.org.il | |
| Small businesses paid by credit card in the past yearhistorical | 43.49% | 2022 | boi.org.il | |
| Small businesses paid via a digital wallet in the past yearhistorical | 12.42% | 2022 | boi.org.il | |
| Loans to small firms that require collateral | 53.25% of loans | small firms | 2024 | data360api.worldbank.org |
| Small business owners willing to recommend their own bank | 51% | satisfaction survey | 2025 | boi.org.il |
Open banking and switching: the regulated entry points
Licensing counts and API traffic from the Supervisor of Banks; switching figures cover the first three years of the free online switching system (September 2021 – September 2024).
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licensed financial information service providers (AISPs) | 42 | licensed entities | 2026 | boi.org.il |
| Payment initiation service providers (PISPs) | 15 | licensed entities | 2026 | boi.org.il |
| Data sources and payment account managers connected | 31 | entities | 2026 | boi.org.il |
| Valid open banking API calls per month | 200 million | monthly average | 2026 | boi.org.il |
| Share of valid API requests for payment card data | 49% | largest data type | 2026 | boi.org.il |
| Share of valid API requests for current account data | 17% | 2026 | boi.org.il | |
| Bank-to-bank switching requests submitted online | 318,600 | cumulative | 2021-09 – 2024-09 | boi.org.il |
| Customers who completed an online bank switch | 223,200 | cumulative | 2021-09 – 2024-09 | oecd.org |
| Online switching requests not completed | 92,000 | cumulative | 2021-09 – 2024-09 | boi.org.il |
| Bank-rejected switching requests rejected for technical reasons | 59% | of rejections | 2021-09 – 2024-09 | boi.org.il |
Credit: where nonbanks are gaining
Household non-housing credit by lender type. Credit card companies and institutional investors grow faster than banks, at a higher price to the borrower.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total non-housing household debt outstanding | NIS 260 billion | all lenders | 2026-06 | boi.org.il |
| Non-housing household credit from banks | NIS 181 billion | 2026-06 | boi.org.il | |
| Household credit at credit card companies (own responsibility) | NIS 47.6 billion | 2026-06 | boi.org.il | |
| Non-housing household credit from institutional investors | NIS 28.1 billion | 2026-06 | boi.org.il | |
| Credit card companies' share of household consumer debt | 18% | up from 12% in 2019 | 2025-11 | boi.org.il |
| Growth of consumer credit at credit card companies | 8.1% | vs 5.6% at banks | 2025 | boi.org.il |
| Growth of consumer credit at banks | 5.6% | 2025 | boi.org.il | |
| Interest-rate gap on new consumer loans, card companies minus banks | 2.3 percentage points | new loans | 2025 | boi.org.il |
| Share of revolving credit issued by credit card companies | 90% | vs banks | 2024-09 | boi.org.il |
| Nonbank TASE members' share of new securities accounts | 47% | 25% of all active accounts | 2024 | boi.org.il |
What retail banking costs: regulated fee levels
Fees are supervised by the Bank of Israel; the regulated tracks set a ceiling that any consumer product competes against.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average monthly cost of a current account plus payment cards | NIS 25 | household accounts | 2024 | boi.org.il |
| Basic track — maximum monthly fee | NIS 10 | supervisory order since 2014 | 2025 | boi.org.il |
| Expanded track monthly fee, cheapest bank (Bank Yahav) | NIS 20 | bottom of range | 2025-06 | boi.org.il |
| Expanded track monthly fee, most expensive bank (Bank Masad) | NIS 30 | top of range | 2025-06 | boi.org.il |
| Monthly charge for all current-account transactions, ONE ZERO digital bank | NIS 0 | 2025-06 | boi.org.il | |
| Accounts not in a fee track, paying per transaction | 23% | 2024 | boi.org.il | |
| Foreign-currency transaction fee on cards, American Express Israel | 2.5% | lowest of five issuers | 2025-06 | boi.org.il |
| Foreign-currency transaction fee on cards, CAL | 3.0% | 2025-06 | boi.org.il | |
| Average cost of sending remittances from Israel | 13.445% of amount sent | 2023 | data.worldbank.org | |
| Fee income of the banking system | NIS 15.3 billion | NIS 6.1 billion from individuals and small businesses | 2024 | boi.org.il |
Unit economics of Israeli listed fintechs
From SEC filings. These companies sell mostly outside Israel, so the figures are benchmarks for a business model, not measures of Israeli demand. Nayax quarterly figures are group-wide.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nayax — payments take rate | 2.62% | group-wide | 2026-Q2 | sec.gov |
| Nayax — SaaS gross margin | 76.4% | 2026-Q2 | sec.gov | |
| Nayax — payment processing gross margin | 40.5% | 2026-Q2 | sec.gov | |
| Nayax — dollar-based net retention | 120% | 2025 | sec.gov | |
| Nayax — annual revenue churn from customer attrition | 2.8% | 2025 | sec.gov | |
| Global-e — net dollar retention (GMV-based) | 122% | 2025 | sec.gov | |
| Global-e — gross dollar retention (GMV-based) | 96% | 2025 | sec.gov | |
| Global-e — sales and marketing as share of revenue | 11.3% | non-GAAP | 2025 | sec.gov |
| Riskified — net dollar retention (billings-based) | 105% | 2025 | sec.gov | |
| Riskified — sales and marketing as share of revenue | 24% | 2025 | sec.gov |
Capital for Israeli fintech startups
Israel Innovation Authority (official) and IVC Research Center (industry research, proxy). IVC figures cover all Israeli tech, not only fintech.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fintech share of capital raised by Israeli technology companies | 9.5% | all tech capital raised | 2025 | innovationisrael.org.il |
| Fintech share of new technology companies established | 10.6% | companies founded | 2022–2024 | innovationisrael.org.il |
| New startup companies established in Israel | 775 | all sectors | 2025 | innovationisrael.org.il |
| Median seed round, Israeli tech | $3M | all tech · proxy: single industry source | 2025 | ivc-online.com |
| Seed to Series A graduation within two years, Israeli tech | 14% | 2024 cohort · proxy: single industry source | 2024 | ivc-online.com |
| Seed to Series A graduation within two years, 2016–2021 cohorts average | 17% | all tech · proxy: single industry source | 2016–2021 | ivc-online.com |
Rules that shape the market
Bank of Israel directives and supervisory orders recorded as in force or proposed.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online bank switching free of charge (Directive 448) | in force | all banks; old account frozen on switching day | since 22 Sep 2021 | boi.org.il |
| Cap on the interchange fee for immediate-charge (debit) card transactions | 0.3% | supervisory order | since 26 Aug 2015 | boi.org.il |
| Banks may charge fees for payment-application services (fee schedule section 14) | in force | since 1 Jan 2025 | boi.org.il | |
| Fees for consolidating and analysing a client's financial information across institutions (fee schedule part 15) | in force | open-banking aggregation services | since 9 Apr 2025 | boi.org.il |
| Annual proactive enrolment of small businesses in a fee track | in force | small businesses and sole proprietors | since 1 Aug 2019 | boi.org.il |
| Draft reform: fixed-price payment account management service | proposed | household accounts | draft | boi.org.il |
Why Israeli fintech numbers from different sources don't line up
Four perimeters get mixed up. First, banks against banks plus credit card companies: the 97% concentration figure includes the card companies, while the deposit and credit shares are banking-group shares of one product each. Second, card volume: the payments overview counts all card transactions (NIS 560 billion in 2024), while the bank-issued and nonbank splits from the annual banking survey cover credit cards and add up to a figure close to, but not defined the same as, the total. Third, consumer credit: the Annual Report gives card companies' share of household consumer debt (18%), the debt-developments release gives outstanding stocks by lender, and the revolving-credit survey covers only revolving balances (90% at card companies) — three different denominators. Fourth, the listed fintechs: Nayax, Global-e and Riskified are Israeli companies that earn most of their revenue abroad, so their take rates and retention describe a model, not the Israeli market. The payment-acceptance survey of small businesses is from 2022 and is flagged as historical; the IVC funding figures cover all Israeli tech and are marked as a single industry source.
Bank of Israel — Israel's Banking System Annual Survey 2024 · Bank of Israel — Overview of the Payments System in Israel · Bank of Israel — Annual Report 2025 · Bank of Israel — Developments in the Debt of the Nonfinancial Private Sector, Q2 2026 · Bank of Israel — Prices of Common Banking Services · Israel Innovation Authority — The State of High-Tech 2025
Methodology
Every number on this page is a fact node in the God of Startups Atlas — a knowledge graph where each metric carries its source URL, reporting period, evidence tier and the verbatim quote it was taken from. Tier 1 means official or statutory sources (Bank of Israel, World Bank, OECD, Israel Innovation Authority, SEC filings); tier 2 means industry research with a disclosed method (IVC Research Center), marked as proxy where a single source stands behind the figure. Values are shown in the currency the source reports; nothing is converted, estimated or modelled. Rows marked historical are the latest available edition, older than three years.
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