Consumer Enquiries and Inspections

If you want to submit a complaint about a bank or credit card company, this is where you can do so. The Consumer Enquiries and Inspections Unit of the Banking Supervision Department is an objective and neutral authorized entity. Our team comprises lawyers, economists, and accountants, who are very familiar with the banking sector and provide services for the general public.

We thoroughly investigate all enquiries and complaints submitted to us based on legal criteria. If the complaint is found to be justified, we demand that the bank or credit card company correct the deficiency, and we have the authority to enforce that.

Please note: While banks and credit card companies are required to abide by the Unit's decisions, the petitioner (that is, the customer) is not bound by those decisions. If the results of the investigation are not satisfactory, you are able to take the claim to court.

• Receiving complaints from customers of banks and credit card companies, resolving disputes, and instructing banks and credit card companies on correcting deficiencies found during the investigation.
• Providing information in writing and answering questions from the public regarding banking and banking-consumer issues.
• Using information from public enquiries to identify systemic deficiencies in the Israeli banking system and to solve them.

Issues under our authority

The Consumer Enquiries and Inspections Unit is authorized to investigate all issues related to  customers' dealings with the banks and credit card companies, including:

• Managing current accounts
• Checks
• Credit cards
• Deposits
• Foreign currency
• Fees
• Loans
• Mortgages

• Complaints about the Postal Bank (please contact the Israel Postal Company or the Ministry of Communication)
• Complaints about insurance companies, provident funds, and pension funds (please contact the Capital Markets, Insurance, and Savings Authority at the Ministry of Finance)
• Complaints about withholding taxes (please contact the Israel Tax Authority)
• Complaints about securities investment consulting (please contact the Israel Securities Authority)
• Information about accounts of deceased owners (please contact the banks' head offices, and present a succession order or confirmation of will order to them)

The Consumer Enquiries and Inspections Unit provides those submitting an enquiry, pursuant to their request, with information on banking and banking-consumer issues. The process of contacting us is simple and straightforward—but before contacting us, we recommend looking at the consumer guides on the Bank of Israel website, which have a range of information that can save you time. 

The Consumer Enquiries and Inspections Unit also investigates customer complaints regarding problems in their dealings with banks and credit card companies. As a general rule, we recommend that you first contact the head office of the bank or the credit card company directly, and that you try to resolve the situation directly with them. This can save a lot of time, and can lead to satisfactory results. If the problem is not resolved, send us the complaint for investigation.

For a list of addresses of banking corporations' head offices in Israel to whom you can turn.

For locating bank branches.

It is important to note: Contacting the Consumer Enquiries and Inspections Unit does not involve any payment, and the applicant does not need to be accompanied by a lawyer. However, if you want you can turn to us via a representative, even one who is not a lawyer or accountant, as long as you give them Power of Attorney.

How to submit an enquiry

• Mail: PO Box 780, Jerusalem, 91007
• Telephone: 02-655-2680
• Fax: 02-666-9077
• Internet: Click here for an enquiry submission form (in Hebrew). 

A complaint should include the following information:

• Full name, address, and telephone number
• Name of bank or credit card company that is the subject of the complaint
• A description of the events—as detailed as possible (include names, dates, and documentation)
• Any additional information that can help clarify the issue

The complaint handling process

The first stage is to submit a complaint to the Ombudsman at the bank or credit card company that is the subject of the complaint.  You will receive a written response from the Ombudsman within 45 days.  Under certain circumstances, the response time may be extended to 60 days, and if this happens, the Ombudsman will notify the complainant of this in writing.  The Ombudsman’s response to the complainant is anchored in Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive 308A.

If the complainant wishes to appeal the response that has been received from the Ombudsman, whether because the complainant is not satisfied with the response or whether a response was not received within 45 days, the complainant may contact us in writing through this online contact form, detailing his arguments and attaching the Ombudsman’s response.

The complaint must include all of the details that are relevant to the case.  We will send the complaint to the bank or credit card company, and the complaint will serve as the basis for our investigation.

Complaints submitted to the Consumer Enquiries and Inspections Unit will be handled through correspondence with the bank or credit card company and with the complainant.

Following the examination, a response letter will be sent to the complainant detailing the results of the investigation.  In addition, if the complaint is found to be justified, we will send a letter to the banking corporation presenting the Banking Supervision Department’s position, including a demand to correct the deficiency if necessary.  The correction may take the form of monetary compensation or a directive to take action or to cease certain actions.

Important to note:

If it is necessary, in order to decide on a complaint, to hear from other entities or third parties, or if there are conflicting versions between the bank or credit card company and the complainant, we will not be able to decide on the complaint.

In addition, as a rule, we do not intervene in enquiries that are or were the subject of hearings in other tribunals, including the courts, the Enforcement and Collections Authority, or the Rabbinic courts.

Appeals of the Unit’s decisions

Every applicant has the right to appeal the Unit’s decision.

The appeal will be examined by a different professional entity than the one that dealt with the original enquiry.  If no cause is found to change the decision, a final response will be sent to the appellant.  If it is found that there is reason to re-examine the complaint, it will be renewed and the appellant will be notified.

Due to the Unit’s role to respond to the general public and to conduct systemic controls over the banking system’s operation with the information received from complaints, and due to the Unit’s limited resources and the option that the customer has to appeal to the courts, it will only be possible to appeal the Unit’s decision on a complaint once.  Additional appeals will not be examined, other than in exceptional cases where the Unit is convinced that there are special circumstances that warrant a further examination, such as new information in the complaint that the appellant did not previously have.

Contact:

For any enquiry to the Bank of Israel regarding people with disabilities, please contact:pz@boi.org.il