Don’t bank on it - opinion

Among the irritating phenomena on the various TV channels are the commercials. My impression is that the time devoted to advertising, especially on commercial channels, has risen significantly in recent years. Nevertheless, the current rules of the Second Authority for Television and Radio specify that no more than 10% of broadcasting time may be devoted to TV commercials (for radio stations it is 15%). Furthermore, the various TV channels seem to coordinate the exact timing of specific commercials, so that it is increasingly difficult to avoid seeing especially irritating commercials that are broadcast simultaneously by several channels – without actually switching off one’s TV. 

Officially, the content of commercials is regulated to avoid offensive or illegal material. However, there doesn’t appear to be a consensus as to what exactly is considered offensive. There is no regulation over the accuracy of the information presented in the commercials; the avoidance of vulgarity (for example, in the new commercial for Spring fruit drinks, there appears an especially repulsive singer); or the deliberate use of excessive violence.

An example is the insurance company, Bitu’ah Yashir’s new commercial. Its presenter, Lior Raz – one of the stars of the Fauda TV series – pounces on potential insurance customers who are not planning to turn to Bitu’ah Yashir. After knocking them to the ground he coerces them with rather questionable arguments to choose this particular insurance company.

TV commercials by Israeli banks: Annoying and uninformative

BUT THERE is one particular set of commercials these days that I find especially annoying – bank commercials. They are annoying because in this period of economic confusion and uncertainty that we are experiencing, with the falling value of investment portfolios and the disinclination of banks to share their incredibly high profits – generated by rising interest rates set by the Bank of Israel in order to fight inflation – their commercials deal with marginal trivialities.

In addition, in recent years most of the banks have been closing down branches, increasing digital services at the expense of personal service and canceling certain services (such as cashier counters) in their remaining, increasingly desolate branches, that were once bubbling centers of activity. The sector that suffers most from all of this are the senior citizens, whose savviness in online services is frequently low, and their preferences for human contact are usually high. Several years ago, I accidentally tore a NIS 200 note, and couldn’t paste it together again. I was in the town of Tivon near Haifa at the time. I walked into a Bank Leumi branch and was told they could not replace it. I walked into a Bank Hapoalim branch and was told to try the Post Office. The Post Office referred me to the Bank of Israel. When I returned to Jerusalem I went to my bank at the time (the now-defunct Union Bank) and within seconds walked out with a brand-new bank note.

I took a look at the Banking Law Registration and the Banking Law Service to the Customer, both originally passed in 1981. I discovered that while the laws deal with the banks’ spheres of activity in which they offer services to the public and the means of remaining in contact with clients for the provision of services (phone, post, e-mail, other online methods and sms messages) nothing is said about services that are – or should be – provided personally in the banks’ branches. Quite a lot is said about the closing of branches and the considerations that must be taken in doing so, but there is no reference to the wishes and interests of the customers.

The most annoying bank commercials these days are those of Bank Leumi, with its new presenter, Gal Toren, in a smart, light-blue suit (unless he is wearing pajamas). 

In one of the commercials, the bank’s CEO Hanan Friedman calls upon Bank Leumi clients with unresolved bank issues, to call up his office, promising that within one day the issues will all be dealt with. Of course, Friedman does not answer the phone himself and has created a special team to deal with the phone calls.

This is, of course, complete nonsense. The CEO of a bank should engage in running his bank for the dual purposes of offering the best services possible while maximizing profits, not in dealing with the mundane problems of individual customers. 

These could be solved in a jiffy if they only had a personal banker or investment adviser to approach, or could arrange to meet, face to face, with experts on particular issues (such as pension funds and savings deposits). 

To the best of my knowledge, only Bank Mizrahi Tefahot, among the large banks in Israel, still provides such “old-fashioned” services.

All banks now publish the few benefits they offer, such as free parking. Israel Discount Bank currently offers its clients the locations and times for free parking via the Pango app. 

However, with the exception of Bank Leumi, none of them offers, for example, interest on accounts. Bank Leumi gives 1%, even though the Bank of Israel’s key interest rate is currently 4.5%. But since Bank Leumi is apparently aware of the fact that this is nothing to write home about, it doesn’t even mention it in its commercials. 

Incidentally, last week I was delighted to hear that the Governor of the Bank of Israel, Prof. Amir Yaron, had called in the CEOs of all the banks and scolded them for not offering interest to their clients on their current accounts. Will his plea be met by any practical responses? 

WHAT ALWAYS surprises me anew in bank and insurance company commercials is the emphasis placed on the competitive prices of the services offered, rather than the question of value for money. This is especially noticeable in the case of insurance companies, where not a single company boasts of its record in paying up, if and when it becomes necessary to call on the insurance. They all advertise their low premiums and compete with each other as to which is the cheapest, but not which pays up fastest and without superfluous delays – when necessary.

In short, don’t choose your bank or insurance company on the basis of their commercials.

The writer worked in the Knesset for many years as a researcher and has published extensively both journalistic and academic articles on current affairs and Israeli politics. Her most recent book: Israel’s Knesset Members - A Comparative Study of an Undefined Job, was published by Routledge in July