Israel's Bank Leumi says it will open a mobile-only bank to the general public later this year.
Built on an entirely new technology stack utilising Temenos T24 at the core, Pepper was rolled out to 'friends and family' in the second quarter. Initially soft-launched with an online lending product, the platform will expand to offer savings and P2P payments via an app dubbed Pepper Pay.
Speaking at a London conference earlier this week, Leumi CEO Rakefet Russak-Aminoach says that she expects Pepper to become another Israeli global startup like Waze or Taboola.
"The world is changing and the walls that protect us are crumbling," she told the audience. "We, the traditional banks, have only one choice: We must change our shape."
The launch of Pepper corresponds with a cost-cutting and efficiency effort at the bank, which has been shutting and merging branches across the country and recently announced an early retirement programme that will see it shed 673 employees by year end.