Standards/paybox
PayBox
Overview
PayBox is Israel's secondary mobile P2P + social-payment app, competing primarily against Bit in the Israeli P2P-mobile-payment duopoly 1, 2, Israel report. PayBox was launched 2014 by PayBox Ltd (founded by Tal Greenberg (CEO), Udi Lieberman, David Rahamim, Imri Heppner), then acquired by Israel Discount Bank (IDB) in 2017 2. As of October 2025, PayBox has 2+ million active users + 3.5+ million downloads + 1+ million monthly different users — substantial but smaller than Bit's 3.5M customers + 90% market share.
The structural distinction: PayBox is a social payment application that facilitates peer-to-peer money transfers, group collections, and payments to businesses — with group-collection functionality particularly distinctive vs Bit's individual-P2P focus. PayBox has operated at NIS 250M cumulative losses (vs Bit's NIS 700M) — both Israeli P2P apps operate on strategic-loss-leader models. Israel Discount Bank says payments app PayBox not affected by startup folding (per Times of Israel) — referring to PayBox Payment Solutions Ltd shutting down (a separate entity) while the consumer-facing PayBox app continues operating under IDB. April 2024 — PayBox launches three-tiered model to expand digital wallet + PayBox allows users to receive interest on money in their account — both significant feature expansions positioning PayBox as Israel's first full-digital-bank competitor on its P2P-app foundation.
History
2014 — PayBox Ltd founded 2:
- Tal Greenberg (CEO), Udi Lieberman (VP Marketing), David Rahamim (VP Operations), Imri Heppner (VP Technologies).
- Initial P2P + social-payment proposition.
2017 — Acquired by Israel Discount Bank (IDB) 2:
- Becomes IDB's P2P-mobile-payment platform.
- Competes against Bit (Bank Hapoalim).
2018 — 1.5M+ users 2:
- Significant scale.
Subsequent — Discount Bank's digital strategy [google-cloud]:
- PayBox as part of IDB's broader digital transformation.
June 2023 — 3.5M+ downloads, 1M+ monthly different users 2:
- Substantial growth.
Interest-on-money feature [jpost]:
- PayBox allows users to receive interest on money in their account.
Three-tiered model expansion [jpost2]:
- PayBox launches three-tiered model to expand digital wallet.
October 2025 — 2M+ active users 2:
- Current scale.
PayBox Payment Solutions Ltd (separate entity) closure [ctech]:
- Israel Discount Bank confirms PayBox app continues operating despite separate entity closure.
Technical specification
PayBox is Israel Discount Bank's social P2P-and-payment app 1, 2:
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Operator | Israel Discount Bank (since 2017 acquisition) |
| Founders (2014) | Tal Greenberg, Udi Lieberman, David Rahamim, Imri Heppner |
| Currency | NIS (Israeli new shekel) |
| Active users (Oct 2025) | 2M+ |
| Downloads | 3.5M+ |
| Monthly distinct users | 1M+ |
| Channels | Mobile app (iOS + Android) |
| Identifier | Phone contact list, QR code |
| Distinctive features | Group collections + interest-on-money |
| Cumulative loss (~) | NIS 250M |
Group-collection feature 2:
- Multi-person collection workflows.
- Particularly useful for shared expenses, group gifts.
Interest on money [jpost]:
- Users earn interest on PayBox-balance funds.
- Banking-feature evolution.
Three-tiered model [jpost2]:
- Expanded digital-wallet tiering.
Use cases
P2P transfers 2: Cardinal use; ~10 % Israeli P2P-app market share.
Group collections 2: Distinctive feature — multi-person collection workflows.
Merchant payments 2: Business-payment integration.
Interest-earning on balance [jpost]: Banking-feature.
Discount Bank digital strategy [google-cloud]: Part of broader IDB digital ecosystem.
Implementations & ecosystem
Operator: Israel Discount Bank (IDB) (since 2017).
Founders: Tal Greenberg + Lieberman + Rahamim + Heppner.
Major competitor: Bit (Bank Hapoalim, 90% market share).
Companion: Broader Israel Discount Bank digital products.
Fun facts
- 2014 founding by 4 founders: Substantive founding team.
- 2017 IDB acquisition: Bank purchase of independent fintech P2P app.
- Group-collection USP: Distinctive social-payment feature.
- NIS 250M cumulative losses: Strategic loss-leader (vs Bit's NIS 700M).
- Interest-on-money: Banking-feature evolution distinguishing from pure P2P.
- PayBox Payment Solutions Ltd separate entity closure: Caused confusion — but IDB clarifies consumer app continues.
- 10% Israeli P2P-app market share (vs Bit's 90%): Bit-PayBox duopoly defining Israeli P2P.
- Three-tiered digital-wallet model: Recent product evolution.
Comparison
| Feature | PayBox (IL) | Bit (IL competitor) | Venmo QR (US) | Bizum (ES) | Wero (EU) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Israel Discount Bank | Bank Hapoalim | PayPal | Bizum SL | EPI |
| Launch | 2014 (2017 IDB acquired) | ~2017 | 2009 (founded) | Oct 2016 | Jun 2024 |
| Users | 2M+ | 3.5M+ | ~80M US | 24M | New |
| Market share (P2P apps) | ~10% IL | 90% IL | ~50% US | ~70% ES | n/a |
| Distinctive feature | Group collections + interest | Cross-bank reach + first IL digital wallet | Social feed | Universal merchant | Pan-European |
Status
- Israel Discount Bank operator since 2017.
- 2M+ active users (Oct 2025).
- Group collections + interest-on-money features.
- Three-tiered digital-wallet model.
Sources
- 1 PayBox — official
- 2 PayBox — Wikipedia
- Israel report
reports/countries/IL-israel.md
Deployments
Found in the following country reports (grep across reports/countries/):
- IL — IL-israel.md