Paying an Israeli supplier in shekels, dollars or euros: IBAN with IL, a banking week from Sunday, autumn holidays and bank questions about business purpose.
Estimate the minimum fee
The final fee and rate are fixed in the payment order
Minimum amount: 10,000 USD or equivalent
This is a minimum, not an offer or a rate lock. The final figure depends on the country, amount and the banks involved and is fixed in the payment order.
Request a quoteRussian buyers work with Israel in several areas. Medical devices and consumables. Equipment for drip irrigation and greenhouses. Cosmetics based on Dead Sea minerals. Food products. Software licenses and custom development. Suppliers here are small and flexible, but their banks are strict, and that is the main thing to know before the contract.
Payment terms depend on the product. Equipment manufacturers take an advance with the order and the balance before shipment. Software licenses are paid in advance for a year or a quarter. If the invoice is issued by an Israeli distributor rather than the manufacturer, the contract must show who exactly supplies the goods.
Israeli banks question the beneficiary in detail about the payer and the business purpose of the transfer. If the goods are described differently in the documents or it is unclear why the buyer is not the one paying, the bank may reject the incoming funds. So we check the route to Israel for each payment: the beneficiary, the goods, the currency and the bank. From our pool we select an agent whose route to the specific Israeli bank works on the payment date. If there is no lawful route, we tell you so before you transfer your roubles. We charge nothing for declining.
When there is a route, the exchange rate and the fee are in the payment order before you send the roubles. If you need a guarantee, the money waits for execution in a special escrow account at a Russian bank: this is on request, for an additional fee. VEDmost’s fee is paid by the agent: we do not require any payment from you.
The national currency is the new Israeli shekel (ILS). Exporters invoice in US dollars, less often in euros and shekels. Many companies have separate accounts for each currency. If the invoice is in dollars, make sure the supplier has given the number of its dollar account, not its shekel account: otherwise the bank will convert the amount at its own rate.
An Israeli IBAN starts with IL and has 23 characters. It contains the bank code and the branch number, so an error in a single digit sends the payment to another branch or returns it to the sender. The beneficiary’s name is written in Latin script with the form Ltd. In the register the company is recorded in Hebrew, and the English spelling may differ from one document to another. Check it against what the bank holds, and ask for the nine-digit company number from the register to be shown on the invoice.
The working week in Israel runs from Sunday to Thursday. Friday and Saturday are days off for banks. In autumn, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot follow one another, and in spring there is Passover: no crediting on these days. If the supplier expects an advance before shipment, send the payment at the start of the Israeli week and check the holiday calendar. The dates of Jewish holidays shift in the Gregorian calendar every year, so last year’s schedule will not work.
Five steps, the same for every country. Country specifics are described above.
Beneficiary's country, amount, currency, the invoice and the contract or bill, your company's and the beneficiary's details. We review the request before any documents are signed.
We select a network company and a route and prepare the documents. You sign an agency agreement with that company, which sets the execution period, and a payment order: amount, exchange rate and fee. All of this before you transfer your roubles.
You transfer roubles to the network company from your account at a Russian bank. If you need a guarantee, they wait for execution in a special escrow account, for an additional fee.
The agent sends the currency to the beneficiary under this payment order. A sub-agent is engaged only with your consent. The route does not change without a payment order.
We send you the payment confirmation, and a SWIFT confirmation on request. Then the completion certificate, the agent's report and the currency control package. The deal is not closed until the currency has been sent to the beneficiary.
If you need a guarantee, the payment goes through a special escrow account at a Russian bank: the roubles wait there until the agent sends the currency to the beneficiary and are released only upon execution. This scheme carries an additional fee, shown in the quote before the agreement.
The agent executes the payment within 3 business days: the period is written into the agency agreement.
If the beneficiary's bank accepts payment only from a specific payer, the agent engages a sub-agent. Only with your consent. Your agency agreement does not change.
For large volumes, on request, we assign an agent backed by a large exporter's surety; some companies in our network have one. It can be combined with escrow.
Tell us the rate you pay now or send your current agent’s documents. We’ll calculate the all-in cost with the FX markup and charges and look for a lower rate in our network. If there isn’t one, we’ll say so. The comparison is free.
Israeli banks work from Sunday to Thursday. On Friday, Saturday and Jewish holidays there is usually no crediting.
In the invoice currency. Israeli exporters most often invoice in US dollars, and in euros in trade with Europe. If the supplier has a separate account for each currency, confirm which one to send to.
The nine-digit registration number from the companies register. We use it to check the beneficiary against the contract before you sign the agency agreement.
Israeli banks ask the beneficiary about the payer and the business purpose of the deal. A contract, an invoice and a specification with the same description of the goods help.
If the contract describes the license and the basis for payment, and the license is not prohibited, we will check the route. For development work, attach a completion certificate or a report for the period.
Describe the payment. We'll reply with a proposed route and terms. We name the agent in advance, and the rate and fee go into the payment order before your roubles are debited.