Have drawn up a bill calling for consumer protection to be added to the goals of the Bank of Israel.
Adv. Ehud Peleg, Consumer Council CEO: “The Bank of Israel needs to not only maintain the stability of the banks, but also protect consumers, and it would be appropriate to mention this explicitly among its goals.”
Not only do many consumers fail to benefit from preferential pricing for banking services, but they lack the power to negotiate such pricing with their bank. Under these circumstances, the Bank of Israel, in its role as supervisor of banking services, ought to demonstrate its concern for transparency and fairness in the relationship between banks and their customers. While this appears obvious, it does not even rate a mention among the Bank of Israel’s goals, set forth in the Bank of Israel Law adopted by the Knesset only last year. For the first time, this proposed amendment to the Bank of Israel Law declares explicitly in principal legislation regarding the Bank of Israel, that apart from the Bank of Israel’s goals in relation to determining Israel’s economic policy and maintaining stability of the banking system, the Bank of Israel is also responsible for protecting the banks’ customers, and improving the position of the individual consumer vis-?-vis the banks, both in terms of the provision and quality of banking services, and in the setting of their prices. CEO of the Consumer Council, Adv. Ehud Peleg, says that the Bank of Israel needs to not only maintain the stability of the banks, but also protect consumers, and that it would be appropriate to mention this explicitly among its goals.
