Wallets/bank-hapoalim
Bank Hapoalim + Bit
0 standards supported
Overview
Bank Hapoalim is Israel's largest and leading financial institute + operates Bit, Israel's largest payment app [1, 2, il-cro]. 2025 baseline: 2M+ customers + Bit 2M+ users with ~80% Israeli money-transfers market share + Bank of Israel approved Bit as a digital wallet (distinctive payment-app-to-digital-wallet transition).
Distinctive Bank Hapoalim positioning [1, 3, 4]:
- Israel's largest bank by customers (more than 2M customers)
- Founded 1921 — distinctive Israeli banking heritage (pre-Israeli state)
- Bit = Bank Hapoalim's payment app — Israel's largest payment app with 2M+ users + ~80% Israeli money-transfers market share
- Pre-Apple Pay: Bank Hapoalim launched Israel's first digital wallet
- 2025-2028 strategic focuses: Sales + service + fairness + digital + data + operational efficiency + supporting infrastructures and platforms; sales growth targeted via 3 main channels (digital + branches + call centers)
- TCS partnership: Bank Hapoalim first to sign up for TCS blockchain-based digital bank guarantee platform in Israel
History
1921 — Bank Hapoalim founded in then-British Mandate of Palestine (pre-Israeli state) by Histadrut (General Federation of Labor) — distinctive Israeli banking heritage.
1948 — Israeli independence + Bank Hapoalim becomes major Israeli bank.
1983 — Israeli bank stocks crisis — Israeli government partially nationalizes Bank Hapoalim + other Israeli banks.
1996 — Bank Hapoalim partial privatization (Israeli government sells majority stake).
2010 — Bank Hapoalim mobile banking app launches.
2016 — Bit launches by Bank Hapoalim as Israeli P2P payment app.
2016-2025 — Mass Bit adoption [3]: Bit becomes Israel's largest payment app with 2M+ users + ~80% Israeli money-transfers market share.
2025 — Bit approved as digital wallet by Bank of Israel [4] — distinctive payment-app-to-digital-wallet transition.
Ownership & operator
Operating entity: Bank Hapoalim B.M. (TASE: POLI).
Major shareholders: Shari Arison family (formerly major shareholder; reduced 2020s) + various Israeli institutional + TASE public float (widely held post-Arison family stake reduction).
Regulators: Bank of Israel (Banking Supervision Department) + Israel Securities Authority (ISA).
Technical integration
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Channels | Bank Hapoalim app (iOS + Android; primary IL retail-banking mobile channel) + Bit app (iOS + Android; Israel's largest payment app; 2M+ users) + Capital Market app + Business app + Bank Hapoalim Online Banking + Bank Hapoalim cards (Visa + Mastercard + Isracard) + Bank Hapoalim branch network |
| Identifiers | Phone + email + card number + Israeli ID |
| IL rail | [[israeli-instant]] (Bank of Israel national instant payment system; pre-Apple Pay Bank Hapoalim first Israeli digital wallet) |
| License | Bank (Bank Hapoalim full Israeli banking license; Israel's largest bank by customers; Bit Israel's largest payment app) |
| Sub-products | Bank Hapoalim Account + Bank Hapoalim Cards + Bank Hapoalim Credit + Bank Hapoalim Mortgages + Bank Hapoalim Investments + Bank Hapoalim Insurance + Bank Hapoalim Business + Bank Hapoalim Capital Markets + Bit (Israel's largest payment app + digital wallet since 2025 Bank of Israel approval) + Hapoalim Switzerland + Hapoalim USA + Hapoalim UK |
| Distinctive Bit ~80% IL money-transfers market share | |
| TCS blockchain digital bank guarantee partnership |
Users & growth
- Israel's largest bank by customers (2M+ customers)
- Bit Israel's largest payment app — 2M+ users + ~80% Israeli money-transfers market share
- Bit digital wallet approved by Bank of Israel 2025
- 2025-2028 strategic focuses: Sales + service + fairness + digital + data + operational efficiency + supporting infrastructures and platforms
Use cases
Israeli + multi-country retail + corporate + investment + capital markets + insurance banking via Bank Hapoalim app + Bit app (Israel's largest payment app + digital wallet since 2025 Bank of Israel approval) + Capital Market app + Business app + Bank Hapoalim Online + cards + branches; Israeli national instant payment + IL rails; Bank Hapoalim Switzerland + Hapoalim USA + Hapoalim UK multi-country subsidiaries; TCS blockchain digital bank guarantee partnership.
Implementations & partners
Operator: Bank Hapoalim B.M. (TASE: POLI).
Major shareholders: Shari Arison family (formerly major shareholder; reduced 2020s) + Israeli institutional + TASE public float (widely held post-Arison family stake reduction).
Major Israeli banking + fintech competitors:
- [[bank-leumi]] (Bank Leumi; Israel's #2 bank; Pepper digital subsidiary)
- Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (Israel #3 bank; mortgages leader)
- Discount Bank (Israeli Discount Bank; Israel's 4th largest bank)
- First International Bank of Israel (FIBI) + Bank of Jerusalem + Mercantile Discount Bank (Israeli banking competitors)
- One Zero Bank (Israel's first all-digital bank since 2022)
- Pepper by Leumi (Israel's first mobile-only bank; Bank Leumi subsidiary)
Tech partner: TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) (TCS blockchain digital bank guarantee platform).
Bank Hapoalim subsidiaries: Hapoalim Switzerland + Hapoalim USA + Hapoalim UK + Isracard (credit card co-issuer).
Regulators: Bank of Israel (Banking Supervision Department) + ISA + per-country.
Fun facts
- Israel's largest and leading financial institute by customers (2M+).
- Bit Israel's largest payment app — 2M+ users + ~80% Israeli money-transfers market share — distinctive Israeli P2P dominance.
- 1921 founding in then-British Mandate of Palestine by Histadrut (General Federation of Labor) — distinctive Israeli banking heritage (pre-Israeli state).
- 1983 Israeli bank stocks crisis — Israeli government partially nationalizes; 1996 Bank Hapoalim partial privatization.
- Pre-Apple Pay: Bank Hapoalim launched Israel's first digital wallet (distinctive Israeli digital wallet pioneer).
- 2025 Bit approved as digital wallet by Bank of Israel — distinctive payment-app-to-digital-wallet transition.
- TCS blockchain digital bank guarantee partnership — Bank Hapoalim first to sign up in Israel.
- Shari Arison family formerly major shareholder (reduced 2020s).
- Multi-country subsidiaries: Hapoalim Switzerland + Hapoalim USA + Hapoalim UK.
Comparison
| Feature | Bank Hapoalim + Bit | [[bank-leumi]] (Israel's #2 bank rival; Pepper digital subsidiary) | Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (Israel #3 mortgages leader rival) | [[venmo]] (US P2P rival comparable Bit positioning) | [[paypal]] (US-global wallet rival) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Bank Hapoalim B.M. (TASE: POLI; Shari Arison family formerly major shareholder reduced 2020s + Israeli institutional + TASE public float) | Bank Leumi le-Israel B.M. (TASE: LUMI) | Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd. (TASE: MZTF) | Venmo (PayPal subsidiary) | PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL) |
| Type | Israel's largest bank by customers + Bit Israel's largest payment app + ~80% Israeli money-transfers market share + Bit approved as digital wallet by Bank of Israel 2025 + Israel's first digital wallet pre-Apple Pay | Israel's #2 bank + Pepper digital subsidiary (Israel's first mobile-only bank since Jun 2017) | Israel #3 bank + mortgages leader | US P2P PayPal subsidiary | US-global wallet |
| Country | IL + US + GB + CH | IL + multi-country | IL primary | US primary | US + multi-global |
| Users | 2M+ Bank Hapoalim customers; Bit 2M+ users; ~80% Israeli money-transfers market share; Israeli largest bank by customers | Israel #2 bank + Pepper digital subsidiary | Israel #3 mortgages leader | Major US | 400M+ globally |
| Distinctive | 1921 founding by Histadrut (General Federation of Labor) — Israeli banking heritage (pre-Israeli state); 1983 partial nationalization (Israeli bank stocks crisis) + 1996 partial privatization; Pre-Apple Pay Israel's first digital wallet; Bit Israel's largest payment app with 2M+ users + ~80% Israeli money-transfers market share; 2025 Bit approved as digital wallet by Bank of Israel; TCS blockchain digital bank guarantee partnership; Shari Arison family formerly major shareholder reduced 2020s | Pepper by Leumi launched Jun 2017 as Israel's first mobile-only banking service | IL mortgages leader | US P2P PayPal subsidiary | US-global wallet |
Status
Active, Israel's largest and leading financial institute + Bit Israel's largest payment app [1, 3]:
- Bank Hapoalim B.M. (TASE: POLI) since 1921 (Histadrut/General Federation of Labor founding in then-British Mandate of Palestine).
- Israel's largest bank by customers (2M+).
- Bit Israel's largest payment app — 2M+ users + ~80% Israeli money-transfers market share.
- 2025 Bit approved as digital wallet by Bank of Israel distinctive payment-app-to-digital-wallet transition.
- TCS blockchain digital bank guarantee partnership (Bank Hapoalim first to sign up in Israel).
- Hapoalim Switzerland + Hapoalim USA + Hapoalim UK multi-country subsidiaries.
- Bank of Israel + ISA + per-country regulated.
Sources
- 1 Bank Hapoalim — Wikipedia
- 2 Bank Hapoalim — official
- 3 Ahead of Apple Pay Bank Hapoalim launches Israel's first digital wallet — Jerusalem Post
- 4 The Bank of Israel approves the Payment App BIT, turning into a digital wallet — i-AML Israel
- il-cro In-corpus:
reports/countries/IL-israel.md
Source
Biography extracted from bank-hapoalim.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.