In an end of year study, the Israel Trade Council said that the use of checks by Israelis fell again last year, continuing a multiyear trend that has seen consumers moving toward credit cards and away from check writing to make purchases. The use of checks has fallen 17% on average over the past eight years; in 1999, some 590,000 checks were written monthly, compared with 480,000 on average during 2007. Conversely, the use of credit cards has climbed 40% since 2003.

Over 4 million checks – with a total amount of NIS 26 billion – were returned by banks after deposit in 2007 because of a lack of funds to cover them. The number represented a 1% drop over the previous calendar year, disappointing officials in the Council, which had expected better performance on the issue.