Max IT Finance

Max IT Finance Ltd. (Hebrew: מקס איט פיננסים בע"מ), known until March 2019 as Leumi Card Ltd. (לאומי קארד בע"מ), is one of the three credit card companies in Israel. The company issues Visa and Mastercard credit cards and provides payment card processing services and credit solutions under the MAX brand. It operates approximately 2.6 million active cards and serves more than 40,000 businesses. Its offices are located on Ben-Gurion Street in Bnei Brak, and it employs about 1,600 people. The chairwoman of the board is attorney Mia Likwornik. The company was founded in 1996 as Alpha Card by Bank Leumi and the Orek Group. In February 2000, Bank Leumi established Leumi Card, and in April 2000 it acquired Alpha Card's activity and transferred it to the new company. The Alpha Card brand ceased to exist in June 2000, and Leumi Card began operating on January 3, 2001. In January 2001, most credit cards of Bank Leumi customers were replaced with cards issued by Leumi Card. In August 2001, the company began issuing credit cards to customers of all banks. In July 2018, the company was sold to the American investment fund Warburg Pincus for NIS 2.5–2.7 billion, following the recommendations of the Strum Committee to separate credit card companies from the major Israeli banks in order to encourage competition in the banking system. Additional companies joined the purchase, and in June 2019 Warburg Pincus held 75% of the ownership, Clal Holdings and Menora Mivtachim Holdings held 10% each, and the Alied Group held the remaining 5%. In March 2019, following the sale, the company underwent rebranding. It is now branded as "MAX". The company name was changed to "Max IT Finance Ltd." In February 2020, it acquired the clearing company "Credit Guard", previously owned by "SafeCharge", for about NIS 70 million. In May 2021, the Supervisor of Banks imposed a financial sanction of NIS 900,000 on the company following cases in which the company approved charges received on credit cards after their cancellation. In April 2022, Clal Holdings acquired MAX at a valuation of NIS 2.47 billion, and the deal was completed in March 2023. The company provides a range of issuance, clearing, and credit solutions such as loans and flexible payment options, as well as insurance. Its digital services allow, among other things, receiving ongoing information on transactions and account status, purchasing benefits, and transferring and receiving funds. Through the internet, the company allows its customers to perform operations and receive information on a variety of topics, as well as billing details and letters by email, information on transactions via SMS, etc. The company issues and operates a variety of credit cards in two categories: bank cards, which it issues in cooperation with various banks due to the Strum reform requiring banks to work with multiple issuers; and non-bank cards, which it issues to customers of all banks, most in cooperation with external parties. The cards issued by the company are further classified as deferred debit cards, revolving credit cards, and prepaid cards. Since 2019, MAX has operated the "Kranot" franchise for security personnel associated with the "Kranot Hashotrim" club for Israel Police and Prison Service personnel, including many benefits and discounts for club members, as well as a prepaid card for Kranot cardholders called "Kranot Benefits". In 2020, the company began marketing insurance products, the first being car insurance.

Max IT Finance Ltd. was founded in 1996 as Alpha Card by Bank Leumi and the Orek Group. The company launched a new Visa credit card, "Visa Alpha", which competed with the Visa cards of CAL, but without the support of any of the three major banks in the country, its market penetration was limited. After ownership of the credit card company "CAL", which was jointly owned by Bank Leumi and Bank Discount, passed entirely to Bank Discount, Bank Leumi established "Leumi Card" on February 15, 2000. The manager of the new company was Yehoshua Agassi. In April 2000, Leumi acquired the activity of Alpha Card and transferred it to the new company. This step led to Agassi's resignation and his replacement by Arieh Heilweil, who headed the company until his death in October 2008. The Alpha Card brand ceased to exist in June 2000, and Leumi Card began operating on January 3, 2001. In January 2001, a process began in which most credit cards of Bank Leumi customers were replaced from credit cards issued by CAL to new cards issued by Leumi Card. In August 2001, the company began issuing credit cards to customers of all banks. In 2003, Leumi Card tried to acquire all shares of Gamma Management and Clearing, but did not receive approval from the Competition Authority. In 2006, Leumi Card acquired 20% of Gamma's shares and tried again to increase its holdings, but again did not receive approval. In 2008, 49% of Gamma's share capital was sold to the Phoenix Group (20% held by Leumi Card and 29% additional). In June 2007, a joint interface was opened between the three credit card companies in Israel for clearing Mastercard and Visa vouchers. This step enabled full competition: Leumi Card and CAL began clearing Mastercard cards, and Isracard began clearing Visa cards. In May 2008, the Azrieli Group, through its subsidiary "Kanit – Management and Financing Investments", acquired 20% of Leumi Card for about NIS 360 million. 80% remained owned by Bank Leumi. In 2010, the transaction turnover in credit cards issued by Leumi Card reached NIS 48 billion and its market share was the second largest in the country. In August 2011, following legislation aimed at opening the credit market to competition, the monopoly that the credit card company "Isracard" had on clearing its own private credit card brand was broken. The law determined that any company issuing over 10% of all credit cards in the country must also allow other credit companies to clear its brand. This allowed Leumi Card to begin clearing "Isracard" credit cards. The change allowed the company to significantly increase the number of businesses performing credit card clearing through its services. In November 2014, a retired employee, Eliran Rosens, copied data from the company's database before retiring and tried to extort Bank Leumi by threatening to publish the data if a ransom of three million dollars was not paid. The ransom demand caused alarm at the bank and the National Cyber Bureau, and was kept secret to avoid panic among the bank's customers. In a joint effort by the cyber unit of the Israel Police and other security factors, the extortionist was located in Thailand and deported to Israel. He was prosecuted, convicted of a range of offenses including extortion, invasion of privacy, and obtaining something by fraud, and sentenced to 11 years in prison and payment of NIS 10,000 compensation to "Leumi Card". In July 2018, the company was sold to the American investment fund Warburg Pincus for NIS 2.5–2.7 billion. This followed the recommendations of the Strum Committee to separate credit card companies from the major Israeli banks in order to encourage competition in the banking system. Additional companies joined the purchase, and in June 2019 Warburg Pincus held 75% of the ownership, Clal Holdings and Menora Mivtachim Holdings held 10% each, and the Alied Group held the remaining 5%. In March 2019, following the sale, the company underwent rebranding. It is now branded as "MAX". The company name was changed to "Max IT Finance Ltd." In February 2020, it acquired the clearing company "Credit Guard", previously owned by "SafeCharge", for about NIS 70 million. In May 2021, the Supervisor of Banks imposed a financial sanction of NIS 900,000 on the company following cases in which the company approved charges received on credit cards after their cancellation. In April 2022, Clal Holdings acquired MAX at a valuation of NIS 2.47 billion, and the deal was completed in March 2023.

• 2023

  Acquisition by Clal Holdings completed in March.

• 2022

  Clal Holdings acquired MAX at a valuation of NIS 2.47 billion in April.

• 2021

  Fined NIS 900,000 by the Supervisor of Banks in May.

• 2020

  Acquired Credit Guard for about NIS 70 million in February; began marketing insurance products.

• 2019

  Rebranded as MAX in March; company name changed to Max IT Finance Ltd.

• 2018

  Sold to Warburg Pincus for NIS 2.5–2.7 billion in July.

• 2014

  Extortion attempt by former employee Eliran Rosens; he was later sentenced to 11 years in prison.

• 2011

  Legislation broke Isracard's monopoly, allowing Leumi Card to clear Isracard cards.

• 2010

  Transaction turnover reached NIS 48 billion; second largest market share in Israel.

• 2008

  Azrieli Group acquired 20% of Leumi Card for about NIS 360 million.

• 2007

  Joint interface opened between the three credit card companies for clearing Mastercard and Visa vouchers.

• 2006

  Acquired 20% of Gamma's shares.

• 2003

  Attempted to acquire Gamma Management and Clearing but was denied by the Competition Authority.

• 2001

  Leumi Card began operating on January 3; began issuing cards to customers of all banks in August.

• 2000

  Bank Leumi established Leumi Card on February 15; acquired Alpha Card's activity in April; Alpha Card brand ceased in June.

• 1996

  Founded as Alpha Card by Bank Leumi and the Orek Group.

One of Israel's leading credit card and financial services companies, offering a wide range of payment and credit solutions under the MAX brand.

• MAX credit cards

  Visa and Mastercard credit cards issued under the MAX brand.

• Max Back Total

  Cashback card offering refunds on purchases.

• Kranot Benefits

  Prepaid card for Kranot club members.

• Car insurance

  First insurance product launched in 2020.

1. 1Official websitemax.co.il
2. 2About Maxmax.co.il
3. 3Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Hebrew Wikipediahe.wikipedia.org