A relatively small number of soldiers in reserves needed to take advantage of the special loans and benefits offered to them, said Bank Hapoalim head of retail and SMB credit Jacob Perchenok. Those who needed the special loans tended to be small business owners, for whom government solutions were less quick to come.
Bank Hapoalim, along with Israel's other banks and partially under the purview of Israel's central bank, offered a number of benefits to Israeli soldiers in reserves. Benefits included extensions on paying back existing loans, loans offered without interest payments, and more.
While the bank did not disclose exact figures, it said that only a few thousand of its customers needed to take advantage of these special benefits.
An important reason these benefits were offered was to give immediate liquidity to reservists, especially to those who needed to keep small businesses afloat. Those reservists who work for bigger companies tended to be in good shape, said Perchenok.
"In November and December, business owners, especially [small business owners], were drafted to reserves. Their business was put on hold, and at first, the state was not really there and did not give big enough grants. We understood that these people needed available funds in the short term," explained Perchnok.
Some reservists in dire need of such solutions
While not very many reservists needed these solutions, many of those who did needed them badly. "Every person like this is someone who will lose their business if you don't help them," he explained.
On top of offering loans, for the first two months of the war, the bank was "very tolerant of all kinds of abnormal financial behavior because we knew that the people in reserves did not have time to pay attention to [their finances]," explained Perchnok. One example of this was that the bank did not bounce checks for reservists during this time.
"After around three or four months, the state was able to offer solutions to the majority of reservists, but it didn't and still doesn't know how to help some parts of the population," said Perchnok, explaining that some business owners with variable incomes, or who are new business owners are examples of those the government has trouble helping because they don't have a typical income history.
The bank was able to quickly respond to the outbreak of war because of experience gained during the coronavirus pandemic when they tracked customers' accounts to monitor needs. This method gave the bank a good picture of the impact of the war on its customers and helped them tailor solutions. The bank had a variety of tools set up to help reservists almost immediately, said Perchenok.
Now, the bank is seeing a slow return to normalcy, with fewer reservists extending loan deferrals or needing help. Nevertheless, the bank is prepared to help and is getting ready for the possibility of war in the north.
"We will make sure to meet the needs of all of our customers as they arise, especially for reservists, but for all our customers," he said.