Israel Discount Bank Limited (Hebrew ：בנק דיסקונט לישראל） Is An Israeli Banking Institution That Provides A Range Of Financial Services, Including Retail Banking, Commercial Banking, Private Banking, And Financial Services. The Bank Is Headquartered In Tel Aviv And Has 112 Branches Throughout Israel.
The Bank Was Founded On April 5, 1935 In Tel Aviv, Palestine, And Has Grown To Become A Significant Player In The Israeli Banking Industry. It Is A Publicly Traded Company Listed On The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Under The Symbol DSCT And Is Included In The Tel Aviv 35 Index.
The Bank's Product Portfolio Includes Credit Cards, Personal Banking, Corporate Banking, Finance And Insurance, Investment Banking, Mortgages, Private Banking, Private Equity, Savings, Securities, Asset Management And Wealth Management. It Serves Its Clients Through Various Channels Including Physical Branches, Online Banking And Mobile Banking.
As Of 2018, The Bank Reported Revenue Of Rs 9.02 Billion, Operating Income Of Rs 1.50 Billion, Assets Of Rs 239.10 Billion And Equity Of Rs 17.10 Billion. The Current CEO Is Uri Levin With Shaul Kobrinsky As Chairperson.
History
British Custody Era
The Discount Bank Was Established On April 5, 1935 As Eretz Yisrael Discount Bank Limited, Founded By Leon Recanati And His Partners Yosef Albo And Moshe Carasso. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] Early On, The Discount Bank Operated From A Small Hotel On Binyamin Street, Nachlat, Tel Aviv. It Later Moved To Its Permanent Location At 39 Yehuda Halevi Street. Today, Discount Bank Is Headquartered In Discount Bank Tower, A 30-story Skyscraper At 23 Yehuda HaLevi Street In Tel Aviv, Which Was Completed In 2006.
The Name Of Discount Bank Derives From The Word "disconto" - Discounting Of Bills. Since The Fifth Aliyah Members Brought Foreign Capital Into The Country In 1935, Discount Bank Began Operating During A Period Of Relative Economic Prosperity And Grew Significantly During The First Few Years Of Its Operation.
With The Outbreak Of The Arab Uprising In 1936, Economic Growth Declined And Worsened Further After The Outbreak Of World War II. Despite The Deteriorating Economy, Bank Discount's Profits Rose As Its Policy Was To Grant Loans On Good Terms In Accordance With Legislation Implemented Under The British Custodian Regulations, Which Restricted The Withdrawal Of Deposits. In Addition To Its Financial Activities, The Bank Contributed To The Strength Of The Issouf By Establishing The Kadima Organization, Which Provided Scholarships, Opened Aid Centers For Those In Need, And Worked With Israeli Jewish Institutions To Help Establish Agricultural Settlements For Immigrants From Arab Countries.
In 1944, The Discount Bank Acquired The Haifa-based Commercial Bank, And A Few Years Later Also Acquired The Local Operations Of Ottoman Bank, Barclays, And Union Bank Of The Netherlands.
In 1945, Recanati Died And Management Was Transferred To His Sons.
State Of Israel
In The 1950s, Discount Bank Opened More Branches In Europe. It Began Investing In Israeli Companies Through The Israeli Financing And Investment Company It Acquired. During Those Years, The Bank Grew To Become The Second Largest Bank In Israel As The Bank Accelerated The Opening Of Branches Throughout Israel And Extended Its Business Hours Into The Afternoon. In The Early 1960s, The Bank Expanded Its Activities In Israel And Abroad. In 1961, The Investment Company Discount Investments Was First Established In The Banking Industry. More Importantly, The Bank Acquired The Rights To Issue Diners Club Credit Cards And Was The First Bank To Issue Shares To The Public. In 1964, The Bank Was Awarded The Kaplan Award For Becoming The First Bank To Computerize Its Operations.
During The 1970s, The Bank Continued Its Momentum Of Growth And Expansion, Integrating Advanced Technology And Modern Computer Systems And Improving The Client Server. In 1970, The Bank Acquired A 50% Stake In Barclays And The Bank Name Was Changed To Barclays-Discount. It Later Acquired Full Ownership. In Addition, Mercantile Bank Was Sold To Barclays-Discount Bank
In 1974, Israel's First ATM Discountomat Was Launched. In 1979, Visa Cal Was Established In Partnership With Bank Leumi.
In 1981, The Bank's Virtual Branch, Discount Telebank, Was Established, Making It The First Bank Call Center In Israel And The World. In The Same Year, The Bank Also Began Operating Its Bankonit - A Mobile Bank That Operated In The Lachish Area For Several Years. In 1983, "Satellite" Was First Opened In Israel, Enabling Customers To Conduct Banking Transactions Independently Outside Of Standard Working Hours. In The Same Year, The Bank Was Nationalized Along With Other Banks By The Israeli Government Due To The Bank's Stock Crisis.
After The Bank Of Israel Stock Crisis In 1983, The Ownership Of The Bank Was Transferred To The Israeli Government.
In 1987, Discount Group Established The Investment Organization Tachlit Investment House, Which Was Engaged In Financial Product Sales, Portfolio Management, And Other Businesses.
In The First Decade Of The 21st Century, Activities Focused On The Privatization Of The Bank And The Sale Of The Government's Stake In It. In 2004, The Process Of Privatization Of The Bank Began And Was Completed In 2006, When Bronfman-Sharan Group Acquired 26% Of The Bank's Shares. In The Same Year, The Shares Were Also Sold To Deutsche Bank. In 2010, The Government Sold Its Remaining Shares In The Bank.
In 2010, Mafteach Discount (Discount Key) Was Launched To Provide Credit Card Cardholders With Offers And Discounts Combined With The Opportunity To Deposit A Small But Time Deposit Into A Savings Account With Each Purchase.
In 2012, The Bank Was Forced To Sell Tachlit ETN To Dash Investment House After The Banking Regulator Ordered It To Sell Its Stake (20%) In The Company By 2013.
Uri Levin Was Appointed CEO Of Discount Bank In July 2019 And Has Held The Position Since December 2019.
Digital Banking And Fintech
Discount Bank Has Received Media Attention For Its Focus On Digital Banking And Fintech Partnerships. In 2017, Discount Bank Signed Agreements With Several Fintech Companies, Including Icount And PayBox, To Improve Payment Services And Open Banking Capabilities.
Notably, Discount Bank Created An Artificial Intelligence-powered Digital Assistant Through A Successful Partnership With Personetics Technologies. The AI, Called Didi, Is The First Of Its Kind In The Israeli Banking Industry.
In 2019, Discount Bank Launched Business +, A Mobile Banking App For Commercial Banking Customers, And Won Several Awards, Including The 2018 EMEA Gartner Eye On Innovation, 2017] And The 2018 IT Award From People And Computers.
Subsidiary
- Israel Credit Cards, Ltd. (CAL): Israel's Leading Credit Card Issuer, Including Visa And MasterCard. Discount Bank Owns 72% Of The Company.
- Discount Capital: As The Investment Banking Arm Of Discount Bank, As Of 2019, Discount Capital Manages A Portfolio Of Rs 1.20 Billion. It Invests Directly In Corporations And Commercial Enterprises, As Well As Investment Funds And Mezzanine Investments.
- Tafnit Discount Asset Management: Provides Asset Management Of Portfolios For Private Clients, Private And Public Companies, Non-profit Organizations And Government Entities.
- IDB Bank: An American Multinational Private Bank, Commercial Bank And Financial Services Company Headquartered In New York City With Branches In The United States, Latin America And Israel.
Dispute
In 2021, IDB And Its Subsidiary, Mercantile Discount Bank, Reached A Settlement Of 343 Million Pounds (AU $137 Million) With The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) After It Allegedly Conspired With The Sydney-based Binetter Family To Commit Tax Fraud. The Bank Reportedly Allowed The Family To Make "back-to-back" Loans Through Their Account, "effectively Lending Out Their Own Money And Paying Interest" In Exchange For A Percentage Of The Balance. The Family Then Fraudulently Used The Interest Payments As Tax Deductions And A Bank Executive Provided False Sworn Evidence That The Transactions Were Fair. The Bank "pleaded Not Guilty In The Settlement" But Said It Would Appoint A Former Judge To Conduct An Independent Investigation Into The Matter.
