The Director of the Accounting, Payment and Settlement Systems Department, Ms. Irit Mendelson, has requested from the Governor of the Bank of Israel to step down from her position as member of the Bank's management and as Director of the Department, at the end of March 2020, following eight years in the position.
.
Mendelson headed a joint committee to promote the use of advanced means of payment, which published its final report in 2017. She serves as a member of the committee to implement the law to promote competition, and serves as a member of the Financial Stability Committee. During her term, the oversight and regulation of the payment systems and services was advanced, Masav and Shva were placed under oversight, laws regulating consumer protections, licensing, and oversight of payment services, electronic check clearing, and regulation of check endorsements were advanced and implemented as part of the Cash Law.
In addition, Mendelson led the adoption of advanced technological systems, information analysis, improving controls, and processes to increase efficiency in the payment systems and clearing houses operated by the Bank of Israel, the Bank of Israel's banking services to the government, and the Bank of Israel's financial statements.
Ms. Irit Mendelson said, "I would like to thank Governors Prof. Amir Yaron, Prof. Karnit Flug, and Prof. Stanley Fischer, and Bank of Israel Director General Hezi Kalo, for the opportunity they gave me to advance the payments field in Israel, and to take part in a wide range of the Bank's roles during this important period. I am especially grateful to the APSS Department staff, members of the Bank's management, and all my colleagues both at the Bank of Israel and outside it. I complete eight years in the position with a sense of tremendous satisfaction, and appreciate the trust placed in me to lead significant work to benefit the Israeli economy."
Bank of Israel Director General Mr. Hezi Kalo said, "Irit was in charge of a wide variety of activity at the heart of the Bank of Israel's work in particular, and the Israeli economy in general. The payment systems, the Bank of Israel's banking services to the government and to the banking system, and the accounting and control systems at the Bank of Israel itself, were significantly advanced during her term, and prepared the Bank for the challenges of the modern financial economy. I thank Irit for her professionalism, her cooperation, and her dedication in every area in which she worked."
Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Amir Yaron said, "The areas for which Irit is responsible at the Bank of Israel are very important. The payment systems and banking services to the government and to the banks are a critical juncture in the smooth functioning of the financial systems in the Israeli economy. In her quiet way, Irit managed the department while insisting on international professional standards, attentiveness to all the small details, and a forward-looking view. I thank Irit for her decades of dedicated work at the Bank of Israel, and wish her success in the future."