Transferring money to an Israeli card is something almost every foreign worker in Israel deals with sooner or later: receiving help from family back home, getting paid, or returning a roommate's share of the rent. The good news is that there are plenty of working options — even if you have no Israeli citizenship and no regular bank account. In this guide we cover how to send money to an Israeli card from abroad, how to receive an international money transfer in cash, and how card-to-card transfers work inside Israel.

Topping Up an Israeli Card: GMT and STB Union

If you do not have an account at an Israeli bank, the easiest way to receive money is a prepaid card from a licensed payment company. The two best-known providers are GMT and STB Union: both are licensed by Israel's Ministry of Finance and have long served foreign workers.

  • GMT — a large financial company with a network of more than 250 branches and service points across the country. A GMT card can receive transfers from abroad and can be topped up with cash at a branch.
  • STB Union — a service built for people without an Israeli bank account: a multi-currency wallet plus a prepaid Visa card that can receive your salary and transfers. You must sign up in person with an ID document — the company is required to identify each client.

So there are two ways to load these cards: a transfer from abroad through partner systems, or cash at a service point. For how to get such a card in the first place, see our guide to a bank card in Israel without citizenship.

How to Receive an International Transfer in Israel

If your family sent you money via Western Union or MoneyGram, there are two ways to collect it in Israel.

  • GMT branches. GMT is an official partner of Western Union and MoneyGram in Israel. Come with your passport and the transfer's reference number (the sender gives it to you) — you can get cash in shekels or have the money credited to your GMT card.
  • Change points (currency exchange offices). Many exchange offices in larger cities also pay out international transfers. Call ahead to check that a specific office works with your transfer system.

Important: the money is paid out only to the recipient in person. The name on the transfer must match your ID exactly, letter for letter, or the payout will be refused.

Card-to-Card Transfers Inside Israel: Bit and Paybox

Inside Israel, the card-number-to-card-number transfer familiar to people from the CIS simply does not exist — banks do not support it. Instead, everyone uses P2P apps that send money by phone number:

  • Bit (ביט) — Bank Hapoalim's app and the clear market leader: the vast majority of person-to-person transfers in the country go through it.
  • Paybox — a similar app from Discount Bank that works on the same principle.

The key catch: registering with Bit or Paybox requires an Israeli phone number and a card issued by an Israeli bank, linked to a bank account. Prepaid cards from payment companies usually do not work with these apps — check with the app's support for current rules. For most users transfers are free, but limits and terms change from time to time, so always verify the details in the app itself.

Bank Transfer by Account Details

The classic way to send money to an Israeli account is a regular bank transfer. Israeli account details consist of three parts:

  • bank number — every bank has its own code;
  • branch number (called "snif" in Hebrew) — the code of the specific branch;
  • account number of the recipient.

This is how employers pay official salaries, and how banks receive transfers from abroad via SWIFT. Double-check the details: a mistake in the branch number is the most common reason a transfer gets stuck.

Rubles to Shekels: Sending Money from Russia to an Israeli Card

Direct transfers from Russian cards to Israeli ones are effectively unavailable right now: international payment systems do not operate in Russia, and SWIFT transfers face restrictions and do not work from every bank. That is why many people use currency exchangers: the sender hands over rubles in cash or by a domestic transfer inside Russia, and the exchanger credits shekels to an Israeli card or pays out cash in Israel. The method works, but it calls for caution:

  • deal only with proven exchangers recommended by people who have already used them;
  • make your first operation with a small amount, even if the rate looks very attractive;
  • compare the offered rate with the official shekel rate — overly generous terms are a common sign of fraud;
  • keep all messages and confirmations until the money is fully credited.

For the opposite direction — sending your earnings back home — see our detailed guide on how to transfer money from Israel.

Which Option to Choose

In short: money from abroad is easiest to receive through GMT — in cash or onto a card; without a bank account, prepaid cards from GMT and STB Union do the job; inside the country, transfers go through Bit and Paybox by phone number; and official salaries arrive by bank transfer using account details. Always check the exact fees and rates on each service's official website — they change from time to time.

And if you are still looking for a job in Israel, browse the latest vacancies for Russian speakers or leave a request on our job matching page — our manager will help you find a verified vacancy that fits your experience.