Does the class action settlement over early repayment fees apply to car loans?

No. The claim concerned mortgages, and the Banking Order (Early Repayment of a Housing Loan), 2002, applies only to a loan to buy a home or secured by a mortgage on a home. The settlement money goes to the class action fund, not to customers.

Can a Mizrahi Tefahot Leasing car loan be repaid early?

Under the agreement in the file described in this article, yes. Section 3.1 allows early repayment on written notice at least 10 business days before the repayment date. Send the request in writing, ask for a dated payoff letter, and keep a copy and proof of sending.

What fees apply to early repayment of a loan that is not a mortgage?

For banks, the matter is governed by Proper Conduct of Banking Business Directive 454 of the Bank of Israel. According to the explanation sheets the banks publish, the possible fees are an operational fee, a fee for notice of less than 10 days, a discounting difference fee, and for CPI-linked loans an index loss fee. The agreement in this article says the Bank of Israel directives apply "insofar as they apply to the company".

What can you do when the bank does not answer a payoff request?

Send a written request to the lender’s address in the agreement and to its current address, and ask for a final payoff amount and date. Keep every request, reply and call with its date. If the lender is a banking corporation, you can turn to the Public Enquiries Unit of the Banking Supervision Department at the Bank of Israel. In the file described here, the April 2024 emails are what show that the customer asked to pay off.

Igud Leasing: what happened after the Mizrahi Tefahot merger

This site is not the website of Bank Mizrahi Tefahot or of Mizrahi Tefahot Leasing. It is an independent investigation. For phone numbers, the personal area and balance enquiries, use the bank's official service channels at mizrahi-tefahot.co.il.

In brief

Igud Leasing Ltd. was registered in May 1996. Until the end of 2022 all its shares were held by Bank Igud of Israel.
29 December 2022: Bank Igud was merged into Bank Mizrahi Tefahot.
1 January 2023: the company became Mizrahi Tefahot Leasing Ltd., and all its shares passed to Bank Mizrahi Tefahot. The company number stayed the same.
What it means for the customer: the loan did not disappear. It is held by Mizrahi Tefahot Leasing, a wholly owned subsidiary of the bank.

What changed, and what did not

According to the company file at the Corporations Authority, the name, the owner and the entire board changed, with directors appointed on 1 January 2023. The website, phone lines and "Igud Direct" that the Igud Leasing contract referred to stopped working together with Bank Igud. What did not change is the company number, and of course the debt.

What to check in the contract

In the Igud Leasing contract we document:

Clause 24: the company may change the terms only with at least 21 days' prior notice.
Clause 3.1: the borrower may repay early, and the company will not call the loan in without written notice.
Clause 19: the borrower must report a change of address by registered mail.

Keep every request in writing, and ask in writing for the exact balance and the account statement.

What happened to one customer

A customer who took a 184,000-shekel loan from Igud Leasing received no notice of the transfer. When he asked to repay the loan in April 2024, no one answered. The next reply came as Execution Office files, attachments and an exit ban. The full story with documents: Mizrahi Tefahot Leasing phone and personal area (formerly Igud Leasing).

Where to go next

Based on the company file at the Corporations Authority, Bank Mizrahi Tefahot's 2022 corporate responsibility report and documents from a real file. Not legal advice.