Bank Hapoalim’s bit service becomes the first digital wallet in the country

Beat app (source Bank Hapoalim)

Bank Hapoalim has announced the transformation of the “Bit” application from a money transfer service only to a fully digital wallet, which will allow payment to be made without contact via the mobile device and to transfer money between users. Along with the new digital wallet, Bank Hapoalim is also introducing the Bitcard credit card, issued by Cal, which will allow Bit customers to use it as a complementary tool for the bank’s digital wallet.

Bank Hapoalim’s new announcement comes just hours after the publication of the Bank of Israel’s official position on digital wallets, which presents the Bank of Israel’s restrictions on digital wallet activities in Israel, including the ban on using the information collected by the digital wallet to provide financial services or sell other financial products to customers. . With the new change in Bank Hapoalim’s bit service activity, it becomes the first available digital wallet in the country that allows users to transfer money between them through the app and will also serve as a non-contact mobile payment method via the NFC chip built into the mobile devices or the new Bitcard.

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The field of digital payments has changed a lot in recent years in Israel, with Beat actually dominating the market with 65% and about 523,000 active users a month, compared to about 217,000 in the PayBox service of Discount Bank and only about 60,000 in the Pay service of Bank national. With the conversion of the Beat service from a money transfer solution to a digital wallet, Beat and Bank Hapoalim are in line with the mobile contactless payment services of the credit company Max, the ANYPAY of Isracard and CalPay of ICC, which will make the use of Bit even more convenient for users. The two operations in the same place.

Users who hold an Android device with Bank Hapoalim’s Mastercard credit card or Isracht’s non-bank Mastercard credit card can register for Bit’s digital wallet service through the Bit app (Android) itself, while users without MasterCard credit can order the new Bitcard card through the app. And so use the digital wallet. IPhone users will have to use the Bitcard card without the ability to pay without contact as of this moment.

Golan Sherman, Deputy CEO and Head of the Innovation and Strategy Division:

This is a significant step towards the realization of bit’s vision for the transition from a daily payment app for the general public to the central banking activity platform for private and business customers alike. We will continue to promote and strengthen bit’s unique value proposition, as a platform for providing a range of fast and simple payment services based on payments for use by all customers.

As part of the launch of the new digital wallet service, Bank Hapoalim is launching a campaign in which users of the new Beat wallet can receive a 10% refund on purchases, up to the amount of NIS 150, while in addition, customers who order the Bitcard will receive a joining benefit of up to 250 NIS.

There is no doubt that the new announcement by the Bank of Israel opens the way for more payment services for smart digital wallets, which creates a situation of quite a burden on the people in the country who have moved from a lack of digital payment options to excess money transfer solutions, contactless mobile payment and now the wallet solution Digital, all this while quite a few users are waiting for the entry of Apple’s Apple Pay service into Israel.