The Governor of the Bank of Israel and the Supervisor of Banks have notified One Zero Digital Bank Ltd. of the Governor’s approval to remove the restrictions from the bank’s license, after the bank completed the process of meeting the milestones set for it, and after the Supervisor’s certification of the completion of the establishment process.
One Zero Digital Bank Ltd. (hereinafter: “One Zero” or “the Bank”) completed the process of meeting all the milestones set for the establishment of the bank, including raising the required amount of capital. After the Supervisor of Banks certified the completion of the process by the bank, the Governor signed the approval to remove the restrictions from the bank’s license and for its continued operation according to its business plan.
The Bank has thereby completed its preparations, and its status is now the same as that of all the other banks in Israel—supervised by the Bank of Israel’s Banking Supervision Department to ensure its stability and in order to protect the money of its depositors.
One Zero is a bank controlled by Prof. Amnon Shashua, and managed by Chairman of the Board of Directors Shuki Oren, and CEO Gal Bar Deah.
The Bank was given a restricted license on December 30, 2019. The license was dependent upon the completion of administrative and operational preparations to establish the bank, the establishment of information systems and infrastructure including through a computer services centre that obtained a grant from the State, connection of the bank to the payment and settlement systems and to monetary tools, the completion of a pilot process, and raising the necessary capital.
Following 43 years in which no new bank was established in Israel, there were numerous innovative challenges involved in establishing the bank. The bank was established with the close guidance of many entities at the Bank of Israel. The bank’s readiness was examined in terms of information security and cyber-protection, technological risk management, evaluation of the quality of risk management, and the supervisory and control tools existing at the bank.
Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Amir Yaron said, “I am proud to approve today the removal of all restrictions from One Zero Digital Bank’s banking license. After 43 years, a new bank is being established in Israel, and this is further good news for competition and innovation in the banking and financial industry. I congratulate the management and employees of One Zero Digital Bank for meeting the challenges involved in establishing the bank. This process, combined with other steps we have advanced, has the ability to increase competition in the banking system. The Banking Supervision Department will continue closely supervising the bank professionally and guiding it along its path, as we do with each bank in Israel. I wish the bank success, and hope that its establishment will pave the way for other banks to contribute to competition and to the well-being of consumers.”
Supervisor of Banks Yair Avidan said, “This is a happy occasion for me as Supervisor. The Banking Supervision Department has worked hard in recent years to create the conditions and remove barriers to enable the establishment of a new bank in Israel. As part of this, regulatory changes were made to the Supervisory directives, the Banking Supervision Department guided the establishment of a computer services centre, a Licensing and New Banks Unit was established in the Department to guide the establishment of new banks from the application stage through the removal of restrictions from the bank license, and more. This is another element among the measures being advanced by the Bank of Israel to increase competition in the financial system. We have guided, and we will continue to guide, the bank in its work, we will supervise its integration into the banking system, and we will work to assist any other entrepreneur that wants to establish a bank in Israel.”
