Complaining about the bank to the Banking Supervision Department: when, how, and what the unit will not do

In short: the Public Enquiries and Consumer Oversight Unit at the Banking Supervision Department may examine a complaint about a bank, decide whether it is justified, and require the bank to put it right. Applying is free and needs no lawyer. But two conditions defeat many complaints: you must first exhaust the bank’s own public complaints ombudsman, and a complaint on a matter before a court or an execution office will not be examined. The details below come from the Supervision Department’s service charter.

The unit’s authority

The unit acts under section 16 of the Banking (Service to Customer) Law, 1981, which empowers the Supervisor of Banks to examine public complaints he finds substantive about their dealings with banking corporations.

Step one: the bank’s ombudsman

Before applying to the unit you must exhaust the matter with the bank, by complaining to the public complaints ombudsman at the bank or credit-card company and obtaining a reply in writing within 45 days. In certain circumstances the reply may take 60 days, of which the ombudsman must notify the complainant in writing. The duty to reply rests on Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive 308A.

If you are dissatisfied with the reply, or received none within 45 days, you may apply to the unit in writing, attaching the ombudsman’s reply if there is one, setting out your objections.

What to include

Full name, ID number, address and telephone; the name of the bank or credit-card company; as precise a description of the case as possible, including names, dates and documents; and a concise statement of your objections to the bank’s reply. The unit forwards the complaint to the bank, and it forms the basis of the examination.

What falls within the unit’s authority

Everything to do with customers’ dealings with banking corporations, including current accounts, cheques, debit cards, deposits, foreign currency, fees, loans and mortgages, and customer fraud, including through merchants.

How it ends

At the end of the examination the complainant receives a reply letter with the results. If the complaint is found justified, the unit writes to the bank setting out the Supervision Department’s position and requiring the defect to be corrected. The correction may be a refund for direct damage, or an instruction to act or to refrain. If the complaint is not justified, the bank is told so but receives no copy of the reply sent to the complainant.

What the unit will not do

• It has no tools to award compensation for indirect damage.
• It gives no general legal opinions and does not advise on choosing banking services.
• Complaints involving complex numerical calculations are examined only where the complainant presents an expert opinion. The unit does not perform calculations and does not check them on the basis of general assertions.
• Where there is a factual dispute that cannot be resolved on documents, recordings or other records, or where third parties would have to be heard, the unit will not decide.

When a complaint will not be examined at all

• A matter heard, previously or in parallel, by a court, a tribunal or an execution office. And if the complainant starts legal proceedings while the examination is under way, the unit stops it. This is the most important point for anyone already in proceedings with the bank.
• A complaint filed more than three years after the act, or after the complainant learned of it, is examined only for a special reason.
• A complaint addressed to the bank or another body, of which only a copy was sent to the unit.
• A vexatious complaint, or where the complainant was abusive towards the unit’s staff.
• A complaint by a bank employee about an employment matter.

The unit’s decision does not bar the courts. Under section 16(d)(2) of the Law, its decision does not prevent the complainant from pursuing his rights, including before a court. But note the order: going to court during the examination stops it.

What is outside the unit’s authority

State loans and the credit data report (Bank of Israel), the postal bank (Ministry of Communications), tax withholding (Tax Authority), investment advice (Securities Authority), insurance, provident and pension funds (Capital Market Authority), and payment systems.

An urgent complaint

The unit classifies urgent complaints and handles them on a shortened timetable, and in such a case the complainant is not first sent back to the bank. The charter’s examples: severe personal financial distress; violence or threats; attachment, or the bank’s refusal to allow withdrawal of benefits needed for subsistence; refusal to open an account in credit; and refusal to release funds needed for a deceased person’s funeral. The charter makes clear that complaints about financial loss or restoring the position are not “urgent”.

Who may complain

Anyone requiring a service from the banking system who is directly harmed by an act or omission of a banking corporation. There is no fee and no need for a lawyer or accountant. A person may also write anonymously to bring a consumer issue or a suspicion of improper conduct to the Supervision Department’s attention. Applying through a representative requires a power of attorney.

How to apply

The recommended route is the unit’s portal, entered through the national identification system, which shows the correspondence and the status of the file. Non-digital routes: fax 02-6669077, or post to P.O.B. 780, Jerusalem 91007. Call centre: 02-6552680 or *9086, Sunday to Thursday 9:00-13:00. Messages may be left in English, Arabic, Russian and Amharic, and a speaker of that language will call back.

What the courts held against Mizrahi Tefahot in execution matters

What this page is not

This page summarises the Banking Supervision Department’s service charter and is not legal advice. The charter and the procedures are updated, and every complaint has its own circumstances. Check the current text on the Bank of Israel site before filing.

Sources

1. אמנת השירות של הפיקוח על הבנקים לטיפול בפניות הציבור, 1.1.2025 — בנק ישראל (PDF)
2. היחידה לפניות הציבור ולבקרה צרכנית — בנק ישראל