New Bank Fee regulations

Good news!

Banks have to stop charging certain fees!

I know you all hate bank fees as much as I do, so I'm sure this will make you happy.

First change: from now on, banks are no longer allowed to charge a transaction fee for purchases you make with your debit card (my bank doesn't do that, but I'm guessing some of you use banks that do).

Second change: If you need an "ishur" that you have an account at the bank, one will be provided free of charge (but if you need more than one in a calendar year, your bank can charge for the second, third, etc).

Third change: Money transfer fees will be capped at the rate of a teller-assisted banking transaction.

Fourth change: The 2 shekel/monthly fee for housing loans is cancelled.

Fifth change: the fee for paying in "tashlumim" (installments) - 50 agurot per installment - will not be charged for any new charges made in tashlumim.

These new regulations should save us all a little bit of pocket change.

 

Looking for a new bank?

I'm about ready to switch banks.

I've done a bit of research and Bank Igud's terms seem fairly good to me.

No fee checking account - good!

  0% interest if I need to use my "minus" for whatever reason - good!

  3% interest on my "plus"! - excellent!

I'm sure the terms will change eventually, but with new regulations making it easier for consumers to switch banks, I guess we can play the banking game here too!

Check it out!


 

*this post contains affiliate links

Bank Survey

Each year,  banks in Israel are ranked by Globes.

This year's rankings came out, and I figured that now is the time to look it over and decide if a change in banks is in order.

Source: http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000772599

The basics you need to know from this survey, is that overall, Bank Yahav got the best ranking, and overall, Bank Leumi got the worst ranking. But it stands out that Bank Hapoalim tied with Bank Leumi for high fees. And Bank Beinleumi scored a drop higher than Bank Yahav for professional service. And Mizrachi Tefachot and Bank Hapoalim both scored higher than the others for range of ways to contact the bank.

Overall, though, I think this means I should stay with Bank Yahav. We hardly pay any fees there, and I have access to online banking...

Are you ready to switch banks? How does your bank rank?