The Best Multi-Currency Accounts in Israel in 2026

Compare multi-currency accounts available in Israel

These five accounts cover overseas currency holding and local bank alternatives, with card access and receiving instructions assessed separately.

Foreign income and overseas spending

9.2

Wise

Fees

0.1% - 2.6%

Exchange Rate Markup

0%

Transfer Speed

Minutes - 24 hours

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"Over 15 million customers use Wise, mostly for their excellent mobile app, transparent fee structure & use of mid-market rates. Now increasingly used for larger transfers."

Euro receipts and bank payments

5.5

Paysera

Fees

Exchange Rate Markup

Transfer Speed

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Swiss bank currency holding

?

Dukascopy Bank

Fees

Exchange Rate Markup

Transfer Speed

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Foreign receipts within local banking

?

Leumi

Fees

Exchange Rate Markup

Transfer Speed

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Recurring overseas payments

?

Hapoalim

Fees

Exchange Rate Markup

Transfer Speed

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My reviews of the accounts

Wise

Keep foreign income for overseas spending

Wise lets eligible Israeli residents receive foreign income and keep it in the original currency until they need to convert or pay.

Its card can spend an available matching balance abroad, which avoids converting foreign income into shekels and back again for purchases.

The identification rule limits its appeal for foreign residents who only have a passport issued outside Israel.

Complete local verification before directing a salary or pension into the account, because holding requires those checks as well as sending money.

Receiving details also need choosing by payment method, since a US dollar domestic wire carries different charges from an ACH payment.

Selected domestic receipts are free, while incoming USD wire or SWIFT payments cost US$6.11 and other international routes have their own fees.

I suggest using it for foreign income followed by overseas bills or spending, while keeping a separate payment method for everyday purchases in Israel.

The restriction on domestic payments applies specifically to Israel-issued digital cards, so confirm your card's current operating rules before relying on it.

When changing currencies, Wise uses the mid-market rate plus a fee, and the conversion quote does not include separate receiving or ATM charges.

Paysera

An option for euro income and bills without a travel card

Paysera gives eligible Israeli residents a euro IBAN and multiple currency balances, so incoming euros can remain available for later euro payments.

In my opinion, it is worth considering when an employer or another sender can use euro bank transfers and your next payments are also in euros.

The main limitation is spending, because living in Israel does not qualify you for Paysera's EEA-resident Visa card.

That makes the account better suited to retaining currencies and making bank payments than using it as your only account while travelling.

Israel is on the personal-account eligibility list with enhanced identification requirements, so approval may involve additional documents and monitoring.

The separate restrictions on Israeli business accounts should not be confused with the personal product covered here.

Active personal account administration is free, but conversion and payment charges depend on the currency and route, and inactivity charges can apply.

A euro IBAN does not provide local receiving details for every currency balance, or a domestic shekel funding connection.

Before moving money from an Israeli bank, check its international funding charge and Paysera's receiving instructions for that particular currency.

Paysera LT is supervised by the Bank of Lithuania as an electronic-money institution, with customer money safeguarded rather than covered by bank deposit insurance.

Dukascopy Bank

For Swiss bank holding with shekel and foreign-currency balances

Dukascopy Bank offers Israeli residents a Swiss bank account holding 24 currencies, including shekels, US dollars and euros.

I think it is worth considering for keeping several currencies within a bank account, particularly when Swiss deposit protection is part of the decision.

The trade-off is payment cost, because a Swiss account can involve international wire charges when moving money to or from Israel.

Holding shekels does not turn its Swiss receiving details into a domestic Israeli bank account, so check how your bank will send the funds.

Account opening is free, although an initial deposit may be required, and the EUR1 monthly charge has specific waiver conditions.

Currency conversion includes a 0.5% spread plus a volume-based commission, which starts at 1% for the first US$10,000 exchanged in a month.

Those two charges make it unsuitable to describe the first tier as costing only 1% overall.

Outgoing US dollar wires also have their own fees, while frequent or large third-party receipts can trigger additional charges.

The account can receive permitted bank payments after the relevant checks, but Swiss IBANs should not be presented as local details in 24 countries.

Leumi foreign-currency account

Retain foreign receipts within an Israeli bank

Leumi lets you receive foreign currency into a local bank account and retain it rather than directing the payment into your shekel account.

Its app includes foreign-currency balances and transfers, with an English interface for customers who prefer managing their banking in English.

The receiving instructions are the key detail, because Leumi uses a different IBAN for foreign currency than for shekels.

If you want to retain a foreign pension or salary, provide the foreign-currency IBAN and the bank's corresponding SWIFT instructions to the sender.

The sender also needs the required name and address information, because an incomplete payment instruction can result in the transfer being returned.

I suggest this account when keeping foreign receipts alongside your existing Israeli banking relationship is more valuable than having several overseas receiving accounts.

The cost needs checking separately, since keeping the original currency does not remove incoming wire charges or fees on subsequent payments.

Conversion uses the bank's customer rate and applicable charges, so the representative exchange rate is not the full price.

Card debiting depends on the agreed foreign-currency arrangement and the card's terms, rather than automatically selecting every available foreign balance.

Hapoalim foreign-currency account

For recurring overseas payments with saved recipients and bank records

Hapoalim combines foreign-currency holding with digital payments to accounts abroad, including saved recipient details for later transfers.

I suggest using that combination for recurring overseas bills when you want the currency balance and payment records within an Israeli bank.

Its digital service retains transfer details for repeat payments and provides access to SWIFT messages, which helps when a beneficiary asks for payment documentation.

The foreign-currency account can also support direct payments for overseas or online purchases, subject to the payment arrangement you have set up.

Do not assume that opening it removes every card conversion charge, because card settlement rules and the currency of the purchase still affect the result.

The same distinction applies to the bank's currency calculator, whose indicative rate is not necessarily the price of your completed conversion.

Account and transaction costs follow the personal tariff, including conversion commissions, international payment charges and possible correspondent-bank expenses.

My suggestion is to check those charges against the size and frequency of your bills before making the account your main foreign-payment route.

Keeping an existing foreign balance can avoid buying that currency again for a later bill, but the outgoing bank transfer can still carry a fee.

Match your balances to the money you will use

For dollar income and dollar expenses abroad, retaining some dollars can avoid converting into shekels and buying dollars back later.

I suggest keeping the shekels needed for local bills separate, rather than depending on a favourable exchange rate when those bills become due.

For a euro payment abroad, check the direct conversion price before moving through dollars simply because your incoming salary is in that currency.

Keeping a currency reduces the need for repeated conversion, but its value against the shekel can still rise or fall while you hold it.

Check receiving details before directing foreign income

An Israeli foreign-currency account and a local US-dollar receiving account can hold the same currency while accepting different payment methods.

Check whether the payer needs a SWIFT wire, local bank details or another supported route, including charges for that incoming method.

An Israeli IBAN for a euro balance is not an account within the European SEPA scheme, so do not assume it receives the same way as a European euro account.

For your local bank, confirm the correct foreign-currency account details before asking a payer to send money, rather than reusing the shekel instructions.

I suggest checking whether the receipt stays in the foreign currency and what it costs to withdraw or convert into shekels.

A foreign balance does not establish local card access

Check whether the card spends a matching balance directly, converts from another balance or requires a separate card account to be loaded.

Wise's Israel-issued digital card cannot make domestic Israeli payments, so its foreign spending features do not replace a card for everyday purchases in Israel.

For a bank-linked card, check the currencies and transaction types covered by the link, rather than assuming every foreign balance avoids card conversion charges.

The card issuer's transaction charge can remain even when the payment uses an existing foreign balance, which should be included in your spending comparison.

For an account without an eligible card, focus on bank payments and incoming money rather than choosing it around a travel-spending benefit you cannot use.

Check the account before keeping a larger balance

Confirm the legal entity holding the money and its protection arrangements, particularly when choosing between a local bank and an overseas payment account.

Local verification can also affect access, so my suggestion is to complete the required identity checks before directing an important foreign payment into a new account.

Keep the supporting income or savings records available, because an approved account does not remove checks on every subsequent payment.

For a one-off overseas payment, money transfer services from Israel covers delivery choices and shekel funding without requiring an ongoing currency balance.

How to choose a multi-currency account

Compare the cost of your next shekel transfer

Before converting shekels and sending money abroad, compare the transfer cost for the amount and currency you need.