With banks announcing record profits, the Israel Competition Authority asked banks to provide details about interest rates paid on deposit accounts.
After the Bank of Israel repeated last week that it was unhappy with the interest rates paid on deposit accounts, the Israel Competition Authority has now entered the picture. The authority is headed by a lawyer. Michal Cohen has, in recent days, demanded that banks provide details about increases in interest rates paid on deposit accounts, after the Bank of Israel raised its interest rate last week by 0.25% to 4.75% – the tenth increase in just over a year. This comes after data revealed that banks have raised interest rates on loans by more than on deposit accounts.
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This comes after banks announced record profits in 2022 due to higher interest income, and even higher profits in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the first quarter of 2022.
Moreover, a report recently published by the Superintendent of Banks found that Israelis hold NIS 500 million in bank accounts that earn no interest at all and that banks are not doing enough to encourage customers to transfer this money to interest-bearing accounts.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on May 28, 2023.
© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.
Michal Cohen: Cadia Levy