Isracard

Isracard operates in payment-card issuance and operation, transaction acquiring, and financing for private and business customers.[2] The Bank of Israel lists it as one of Israel’s three credit-card companies, together with Max and CAL.[7] The group handles the Isracard, Mastercard, Visa, and American Express brands, with Premium Express, a wholly owned subsidiary, participating in its issuance and acquiring activity.[2]

Isracard was established by Bank Hapoalim in 1975, beginning as a small operation in the bank’s Ben Yehuda Street branch in Tel Aviv with about 20 employees.[1] Encyclopedia.com separately reports that, in the bank’s operations following the 1983 bank-share crisis, it offered the Israeli public its first credit card; that account does not identify Isracard as the issuer or date the card’s introduction.[8]

The company broadened its offerings over time. It added Visa in 2001 and introduced loans that did not require borrowers to hold an Isracard card in 2009.[1] In 2012 it launched the Tracks customer program, and in 2014 it expanded into areas including events, parking, and second-hand products.[1]

Isracard also developed online-commerce services, including assistance for businesses setting up and operating online stores. In 2017 it partnered with Alibaba to help Israeli businesses sell on Tmall and was preparing to integrate Alipay at participating online merchants.[1] In 2020, it agreed to issue and manage Mastercard-branded credit and debit cards for customers of Israel’s then-new digital bank; the agreement covered local and international cards.[9]

Isracard’s principal activities are financing, payment-card issuance, and transaction clearing. It issues local and international cards, offers cardholders loans, installment payments, and borrowing against their card limits, and accepts loan applications from people who do not hold an Isracard card.[10] Its group brands include Isracard, Mastercard, American Express, and Visa; its wholly owned subsidiary Premium Express participates in the group’s issuance and acquiring activity.[2]

The company provides services to both consumers and businesses. Its listed consumer offerings include payment cards, digital loans, payment plans, and a reloadable card for children. Business services include physical and remote payment acceptance, online payment processing, digital management tools, sales and marketing services, and financing.[11]

Isracard also offers a digital account for business activity that can combine interbank transfers, customer credit-card payments, a linked business credit card, a non-bank credit facility, and digital invoicing. The service is provided by Isracard Payment Accounts Ltd., while Isracard Financing Ltd. is identified as the lender.[12]

The group offers full discounting and clearing services for all four of its listed card brands: Isracard, Mastercard, American Express, and Visa. It also serves customer clubs, providing credit and financial services to groups including Hever, Lifestyle, HOT, Ashmoret, and Rami Levy.[10]

The Bank of Israel identifies Isracard as one of Israel’s three credit-card companies, alongside Max IT Finance Ltd. and Israel Credit Cards Ltd. (CAL). The companies issue bank and nonbank payment cards, acquire credit-card transactions, and offer credit solutions; the report lists Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners, and Isracard as the five local and international card brands.[7]

The 2017 Increasing Competition and Reducing Concentration in the Banking Sector Law, commonly called the Strum Law, required Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi to divest their credit-card holdings. The separated companies became non-bank credit providers and merchant acquirers competing with banks for credit to small and medium-sized enterprises and retail customers. The law also required the banks, for a specified period, to process their own issued cards through at least two different credit-card companies.[3]

Isracard became publicly traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in April 2019. Its annual report states that Bank Hapoalim’s holding fell from about 98.2% to about 33% after the offering.[4] A State of Israel prospectus records that the bank distributed its remaining 33% holding to shareholders in March 2020.[3] Sources describe the public offering using different measures: the prospectus says 67% of the bank’s controlling interest was sold, while Globes says 65.2% of Isracard’s shares were issued in the IPO.[3][13]

Globes reported that the 2019 initial public offering priced shares at NIS 13.50 each, raised NIS 1.8 billion, and implied a company valuation of NIS 2.7 billion. The offering followed the Strum Committee’s recommendations to separate banks from credit-card companies.[13]

For 2024, Isracard reported total income of NIS 3.244 billion, compared with NIS 3.150 billion in 2023, and net income attributable to shareholders of NIS 264 million, up from NIS 252 million. Transactions on cards issued by the company totaled NIS 237.153 billion, a 10% increase, while the year-end credit portfolio reached NIS 9.790 billion, compared with NIS 9.058 billion a year earlier.[11]

The company’s investor presentation counted more than 3.6 million private customers, more than 100,000 business customers, and more than 160,000 points of sale. Active cards numbered 4.605 million at the end of 2024, up from 4.437 million at the end of 2023.[11]

The 2024 presentation described consumer and business credit as the company’s main growth drivers. Between 2021 and 2024, the total credit portfolio increased from NIS 5.059 billion to NIS 9.790 billion; consumer credit grew from NIS 4.114 billion to NIS 7.253 billion, and business credit from NIS 945 million to NIS 2.537 billion.[11]

Calcalist characterized Isracard’s NIS 264 million net profit and 4.8% profit growth as the lowest among the three credit-card companies it compared; return on equity was 8.6%, while net interest income increased 1.61% to NIS 947 million.[14] Isracard’s results release reported full-year credit-loss expenses of NIS 267 million, down 23.1%, and fourth-quarter credit-loss expenses of NIS 50 million, down 38.3% from the corresponding quarter.[15]

In the fourth quarter of 2024, turnover on cards issued by the company reached NIS 59.858 billion, 21.7% above the corresponding quarter in 2023. For the full year, income from credit-card activity increased 5% to NIS 2.280 billion.[15] Calcalist reported that revenue from foreign transaction volumes declined 5.4% to NIS 123 million and that the auto-credit portfolio increased from NIS 586 million in 2023 to NIS 882 million in 2024.[14]

In the first quarter of 2025, Isracard reported revenue of NIS 838 million, up 10% year over year, and net profit of NIS 55 million, down 14%. The profit decline was attributed to a one-time NIS 62 million expense following cancellation of an investment agreement with Menora Mivtachim. At quarter end, the credit portfolio was NIS 10.3 billion and card turnover was NIS 61.1 billion, each up 10% year over year.[16]

After Bank Hapoalim’s exit, Isracard entered a period of independent public ownership. In 2020, the company reached a long-term agreement with a newly established digital bank to jointly issue and manage Mastercard-branded local and international cards. The group’s chief executive, Ron Wexler, said the agreement positioned Isracard as an active participant in the future of innovative banking.[9]

A later ownership change involved Delek Group and its controlling shareholder, Yitzhak Tshuva. Isracard’s 2024 results release said shareholders approved an agreement in February 2025 for Delek to acquire a controlling stake, with an expected investment of about NIS 2.1 billion and a resulting holding of roughly 40% at a stated company valuation of about NIS 3.56 billion, subject to adjustments and approvals.[15] Subsequent reporting said shareholders approved the transaction in February and the Competition Authority approved it in March; the Bank of Israel issued Tshuva a permit to control Isracard in July 2025.[5]

Reports on the completed deal said Delek paid about NIS 1.3 billion for 37% of Isracard, bringing its total holding to approximately 40% when combined with shares it already held.[6] The Bank of Israel’s review was reported as reflecting Isracard’s position as one of Israel’s three largest credit-card companies and financial-stability concerns associated with Tshuva’s past, including a debt settlement at Delek Real Estate; this was regulatory context, not a finding of wrongdoing.[5]

Isracard’s partnerships have also extended into airline-linked customer programs. In March 2026, EL AL signed a 10-year strategic agreement with Isracard and Premium Express for Isracard to issue FLY CARD credit cards to members of the Matmid Frequent Flyer Club. CAL-issued cards under EL AL’s previous agreement were reported to continue earning Matmid points through December 31, 2026.[17] Ynetnews reported that the Fly Card operation Isracard acquired was linked to about 500,000 cardholders and valued at approximately NIS 1.3 billion over 10 years.[18]

The Bank of Israel reported that, between December 2022 and June 2023, Isracard did not meet a legal requirement to provide a human response at its call center within six minutes for certain customer requests. The requirement applied to handling failures, account clarifications, and ending customer relationships. The Banking Supervision Department imposed a financial sanction of NIS 250,000.[19]

The Bank of Israel’s review of Yitzhak Tshuva’s control permit drew attention to financial-stability concerns related to his past, including a debt settlement at Delek Real Estate. The reporting presented this as regulatory context rather than a finding of wrongdoing.[5]

Sources use different measures for the 2019 public offering: the State prospectus says 67% of Bank Hapoalim’s controlling interest was sold, while Globes says 65.2% of Isracard’s shares were issued. Because the descriptions use different formulations, the figures are retained without treating them as a direct contradiction.[3][13]