Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI; LSE:80OA) will open its new back office center in July, which will handle banking procedures hitherto handled by the bank's branches. The back office center will apply the bank's new lean banking strategy, enabling it to reduce manpower at branches and channel the branches' resources towards the handling of current customers and the recruitment of new ones.
The back office center will be based in Beit Dagan outside Tel Aviv. The center will initially have 100 employees, some of whom will be transferred from Bank Hapoalim branches.
As the back office center takes over more activities, its manpower will increase to several hundred employees. Bank Hapoalim is also likely to transfer its call center, currently based in Azor, outside Tel Aviv, to the new back office center.
The back office center will gradually take responsibility of banking procedures on the basis of type, not by branches, i.e. a procedure currently carried out at branches will be transferred in a single move. There will be full transparency between the back office center and bank branches. Check clearing is the first procedure that will be transferred, followed by foreclosures, and, in August, standing bank order authorizations.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 22, 2008
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008