Google is planning to launch its digital wallet platform Google Pay in Israel following the growing battle for the payments market between banks and credit card companies.
With persistent turbulence in Israeli payments and finance sector due to Strum law, banks of the nation have moved to virtual services. Bit service from Hapoalim and branchless-banking unit Pepper from Leumi are the likes of such.
Google is trying to win the increasing competition in one fell swoop by undertaking meetings with regulators, bank executives, credit card companies and fintech startups.
Ahead of Google, another international payment giant Alipay has already launched in Israel by partnering up with CAL and Leumi Card. However, its initial services are restricted to only Chinese citizens visiting Israel.
