Standards/paybox
PayBox
Overview
PayBox is Israel's secondary mobile P2P + social-payment app, competing primarily against bit in the Israeli P2P-mobile-payment duopoly [1, 2, [il-cro]]. PayBox was launched 2014 by PayBox Ltd (founded by Tal Greenberg (CEO), Udi Lieberman, David Rahamim, Imri Heppner), then acquired by Israel Discount Bank (IDB) in 2017 [2]. As of October 2025, PayBox has 2+ million active users + 3.5+ million downloads + 1+ million monthly different users — substantial but smaller than bit's 3.5M customers + 90% market share.
The structural distinction: PayBox is a social payment application that facilitates peer-to-peer money transfers, group collections, and payments to businesses — with group-collection functionality particularly distinctive vs Bit's individual-P2P focus. PayBox has operated at NIS 250M cumulative losses (vs Bit's NIS 700M) — both Israeli P2P apps operate on strategic-loss-leader models. Israel Discount Bank says payments app PayBox not affected by startup folding (per Times of Israel) — referring to PayBox Payment Solutions Ltd shutting down (a separate entity) while the consumer-facing PayBox app continues operating under IDB. April 2024 — PayBox launches three-tiered model to expand digital wallet + PayBox allows users to receive interest on money in their account — both significant feature expansions positioning PayBox as Israel's first full-digital-bank competitor on its P2P-app foundation.
History
2014 — PayBox Ltd founded [2]:
- Tal Greenberg (CEO), Udi Lieberman (VP Marketing), David Rahamim (VP Operations), Imri Heppner (VP Technologies).
- Initial P2P + social-payment proposition.
2017 — Acquired by Israel Discount Bank (IDB) [2]:
- Becomes IDB's P2P-mobile-payment platform.
- Competes against bit (Bank Hapoalim).
2018 — 1.5M+ users [2]:
- Significant scale.
Subsequent — Discount Bank's digital strategy [google-cloud]:
- PayBox as part of IDB's broader digital transformation.
June 2023 — 3.5M+ downloads, 1M+ monthly different users [2]:
- Substantial growth.
Interest-on-money feature [jpost]:
- PayBox allows users to receive interest on money in their account.
Three-tiered model expansion [jpost2]:
- PayBox launches three-tiered model to expand digital wallet.
October 2025 — 2M+ active users [2]:
- Current scale.
PayBox Payment Solutions Ltd (separate entity) closure [ctech]:
- Israel Discount Bank confirms PayBox app continues operating despite separate entity closure.
Technical specification
PayBox is Israel Discount Bank's social P2P-and-payment app [1, 2]:
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Operator | Israel Discount Bank (since 2017 acquisition) |
| Founders (2014) | Tal Greenberg, Udi Lieberman, David Rahamim, Imri Heppner |
| Currency | NIS (Israeli new shekel) |
| Active users (Oct 2025) | 2M+ |
| Downloads | 3.5M+ |
| Monthly distinct users | 1M+ |
| Channels | Mobile app (iOS + Android) |
| Identifier | Phone contact list, QR code |
| Distinctive features | Group collections + interest-on-money |
| Cumulative loss (~) | NIS 250M |
Group-collection feature [2]:
- Multi-person collection workflows.
- Particularly useful for shared expenses, group gifts.
Interest on money [jpost]:
- Users earn interest on PayBox-balance funds.
- Banking-feature evolution.
Three-tiered model [jpost2]:
- Expanded digital-wallet tiering.
Use cases
P2P transfers [2]: Cardinal use; ~10 % Israeli P2P-app market share.
Group collections [2]: Distinctive feature — multi-person collection workflows.
Merchant payments [2]: Business-payment integration.
Interest-earning on balance [jpost]: Banking-feature.
Discount Bank digital strategy [google-cloud]: Part of broader IDB digital ecosystem.
Implementations & ecosystem
Operator: Israel Discount Bank (IDB) (since 2017).
Founders: Tal Greenberg + Lieberman + Rahamim + Heppner.
Major competitor: bit (Bank Hapoalim, 90% market share).
Companion: Broader Israel Discount Bank digital products.
Fun facts
- 2014 founding by 4 founders: Substantive founding team.
- 2017 IDB acquisition: Bank purchase of independent fintech P2P app.
- Group-collection USP: Distinctive social-payment feature.
- NIS 250M cumulative losses: Strategic loss-leader (vs Bit's NIS 700M).
- Interest-on-money: Banking-feature evolution distinguishing from pure P2P.
- PayBox Payment Solutions Ltd separate entity closure: Caused confusion — but IDB clarifies consumer app continues.
- 10% Israeli P2P-app market share (vs Bit's 90%): Bit-PayBox duopoly defining Israeli P2P.
- Three-tiered digital-wallet model: Recent product evolution.
Comparison
| Feature | PayBox (IL) | bit (IL competitor) | venmo-qr (US) | bizum (ES) | wero (EU) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Israel Discount Bank | Bank Hapoalim | PayPal | Bizum SL | EPI |
| Launch | 2014 (2017 IDB acquired) | ~2017 | 2009 (founded) | Oct 2016 | Jun 2024 |
| Users | 2M+ | 3.5M+ | ~80M US | 24M | New |
| Market share (P2P apps) | ~10% IL | 90% IL | ~50% US | ~70% ES | n/a |
| Distinctive feature | Group collections + interest | Cross-bank reach + first IL digital wallet | Social feed | Universal merchant | Pan-European |
Status
- Israel Discount Bank operator since 2017.
- 2M+ active users (Oct 2025).
- Group collections + interest-on-money features.
- Three-tiered digital-wallet model.
Sources
- 1 PayBox — official
- 2 PayBox — Wikipedia
- [il-cro]
reports/countries/IL-israel.md
Deployments
Found in the following country reports (grep across reports/countries/):
- IL — IL-israel.md