Banking and payments in Israel: your AOW in euros, your child allowance in shekels
The SVB transfers your AOW to Israel in euros, via Citibank, for at most € 0.48 per payment, and not around the 24th but at the start or in the middle of the month. Bituach Leumi pays child allowance and other benefits into an Israeli account. Keeping your Dutch account is no longer a right once you live outside the EU.
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Anyone living in Israel soon has two accounts: a Dutch one and an Israeli one. Your AOW arrives in euros. According to the SVB, it transfers the AOW to Israel in euros, via Citibank, at a cost of at most € 0.48 per payment. Your Israeli benefits, such as child allowance, come from Bituach Leumi, the National Insurance Institute, into an Israeli account. Whether you keep your Dutch account is up to your bank: you no longer have a right to it once you live outside the EU.
Which money arrives where?
| Money flow | How | When or what it costs |
|---|---|---|
| AOW from the SVB | in euros, via Citibank to your own bank | at the start or in the middle of the month; at most € 0.48 per payment |
| Small AOW | every three months or once a year, on request | lower bank costs |
| Child allowance from Bituach Leumi | into your Israeli account | on the 20th of the month |
| Savings plan per child | at a bank or a provident fund of your choice | 58 shekels a month from Bituach Leumi |
| Redeeming the healthcare waiting period | credit card or bank cheque | 16,860 shekels, in at most 6 instalments |
When does your AOW arrive?
Not around the 24th, as in the Netherlands and the other SEPA countries. Israel is not among the countries where the SVB pays in local currency; that list consists of Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Morocco, New Zealand, the United States and South Africa. So you receive euros, and your own bank converts them. According to the SVB, payments outside the SEPA countries arrive at the start or in the middle of the month. Choosing a different payment day is not possible.
On top of the SVB's costs, your own bank may charge. If you only built up a few years of AOW, you can ask the SVB to pay every three months or once a year. That saves bank costs. Commuting it is not possible. If you and your partner share the same foreign account number, the SVB adds up your amounts and pays them in one go. In My SVB you can see when the SVB transfers your AOW and how much it is.
Can you keep your Dutch account?
That is up to your bank. Your Europe, the EU portal, explains that you have the right to a basic payment account if you legally reside in an EU country. In Israel you live outside the EU, and then that right no longer applies. Ask your bank before you leave whether you may keep the account with an address in Israel. See keeping your bank account and DigiD.
Do not close your Dutch account before your Israeli account is running and all payers have your new number. If you are still due money back from the Tax Administration, you provide a foreign account number with the bank's BIC code and the name as the bank knows it.
What do you notice of Israeli payments?
Bituach Leumi pays child allowance on the twentieth of the month, into the account you provide. For each child, Bituach Leumi opens a savings plan at a bank or a provident fund, a savings fund; you choose which. Conversely, some amounts are not paid by transfer: you pay for redeeming the healthcare waiting period by credit card on Bituach Leumi's website or with a bank cheque per person.
How to open an account as an oleh is set out in the guide of the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration of December 2022. You open it to receive the financial assistance; a couple opens it together, in both names. You bring your immigrant certificate (Te'udat Oleh), your identity card if you already have one, and the form from the airport. In the first 30 days after aliyah the bank has to accept the immigrant certificate instead of an identity card. Many banks ask for your tax number from abroad, the TIN. We could not read the current rules of the Bank of Israel as text. Ask the bank in advance which documents it wants to see now, and what it reports to foreign tax authorities.
Who taxes your interest and dividends?
Israel, as your country of residence, may tax the interest on your Dutch bank account. The Netherlands levies nothing on it once you live abroad. The Dutch Tax Administration puts it this way: "uw Nederlandse bankrekening ... belasten wij niet", your Dutch bank account we do not tax. Only on interest from a loan to your own company may the Netherlands levy tax. The Tax Administration calls that terbeschikkingstelling, making assets available. Then it is at most 15 per cent, under article 12 of the tax treaty. On dividends from a Dutch company, the Netherlands may withhold up to 15 per cent under article 11. What else applies to your pension is in AOW, pension and tax. Arrange your identity number first: see registration and numbers.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Israel or go straight to step 5.4 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- SVB — payment of the AOW outside the Netherlands, currency, costs and payment day — svb.nl
- National Insurance Institute — child allowance, paid on the 20th of the month — btl.gov.il
- National Insurance Institute — the savings plan per child, at a bank or a provident fund — btl.gov.il
- National Insurance Institute — redeeming the waiting period, paying by credit card or bank cheque — btl.gov.il
- Your Europe — the right to a basic payment account applies if you legally reside in an EU country — europa.eu
- Dutch Tax Administration — providing a foreign bank account number — belastingdienst.nl
- Netherlands–Israel tax treaty (Jerusalem, 2 July 1973), articles 11 and 12 on dividends and interest — wetten.overheid.nl
- Dutch Tax Administration — living abroad with Dutch income, the Netherlands does not tax your Dutch bank account — belastingdienst.nl
- Dutch Tax Administration — Treaty states income tax non-residents, January 2026, p. 53, Israel — at most 15 per cent on interest from making assets available and on box 2 dividends — download.belastingdienst.nl
- Ministry of Aliyah and Integration — Guide for the New Immigrant (December 2022), opening a bank account as an oleh — gov.il
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