The haredi representation in the Knesset is launching a struggle against the Banking Supervision Department’s intention to make bank correspondence digital-only by default.
Under the initiative, account statements, updates, and notices would be sent exclusively through online means-unless the customer explicitly requests to receive them in printed form.
Members of Knesset argue that the move could severely harm the haredi public, as well as the elderly and new immigrants.
According to them, at least a quarter of a million haredim are not connected to the internet or lack regular access to email and therefore rely solely on physical mail to receive information about their bank accounts.
MK Uri Maklev, who initiated an urgent discussion in the Knesset’s Economic Affairs Committee, said: “It is unacceptable that under the public radar, and under the guise of technological efficiency, a dramatic initiative is taking shape that threatens to disconnect hundreds of thousands of households from the most basic financial information. This is a scandalous decision that would erase critical information for hundreds of thousands of families."
Maklev added that the move could lead to an economic trap: “For many families, the letter that arrives in the mailbox is the only channel through which they receive information about overdrafts, liens, and interest rate changes. Making the digital channel the default will cause important notices to be sent to email inboxes that are not checked, leading to the accumulation of fines and late-payment interest."
MK Yonatan Mashriki joined the criticism, saying: “Placing the responsibility on consumers who, due to their worldview, are not exposed to technology, or on elderly people and immigrants without digital orientation, to chase after the bank in order to receive a physical letter, is an arrogant step that ignores the lifestyle of an entire sector and its basic right to transparency and accessibility."
At the discussion to be held in the Economic Affairs Committee, with the participation of Banking Supervisor Daniel Hahiashvili, representatives of the haredi public are expected to demand that physical mail remain the default option for all customers, and that any transition to digital correspondence be carried out only after the customer’s explicit and active consent.
Mashriki concluded: “It is unacceptable for banks to seek to save a few shekels on printing and mailing when the price could be economic harm to hundreds of thousands of families. Physical correspondence must remain the default for anyone who wishes it."