Creation of a small business credit database approved for final reading

During the vote on creating a credit database for small and medium-sized businesses, in addition to Bitan, the only people in the meeting room were government officials who participated in the final discussion. Other deputies from among the commission members did not appear for the discussion and voting.

According to Bitan, “the absence of deputies is explained by the fact that everyone supports the reform,” and it is expected that it will be approved without delay and in the final reading at the plenary session of the Knesset, with the support of both the coalition and the opposition.

Let us recall that the reform promoted by the Ministry of Finance over the past ten years was part of the Law on State Regulation of 2026, but was ultimately excluded from it at the request of the Knesset Legal Advisor Sagit Afik.

The SME credit database will operate in the same way as the individual credit database that began operating seven years ago.

Its creation will allow credit bureaus to accumulate data on the credit history of enterprises and transfer them, at the request of the enterprise, to the banks from which it wants to obtain a loan. In fact, this frees the business from dependence on the bank in which its account is maintained and increases competition. In addition, it opens up access to lending to struggling businesses, allowing financial institutions to assess the level of risk.

Currently, the lending market for small and medium-sized businesses turns over about 300 billion shekels per year, with 83% coming from the bank in which the company maintains a current account. According to conservative estimates by the Ministry of Finance, the creation of the database will save businesses about 1.5 billion shekels per year by improving lending conditions.