Single Most Important To Do Before Aliyah, from Someone Who’s Been There

What is the single most helpful thing you can do before you arrive on Aliyah?

No, I’m not talking about having a positive mindset, or downsizing, or research, or learning Hebrew (more on that later). I’m talking about a concrete action to help your transition happen smoothly.

The single most helpful thing you can do is open a Transfer Wise account. No, I am not being paid to recommend them, I promise. It is my personal opinion that this is the number one thing you can do to make your first few weeks go smoothly. 

Why, you ask? I’ll tell you. You cannot open an Israeli bank account on day 1, day 2 or sometimes even day 30 after arrival. Again you ask, why? I’ll tell you. You need a teudat zehut (biometric identity card) to open an account, and you may not get your teudat zehut right away. This discrepancy makes buying appliances or anything above ice cream impossible. You will first get a Tuedat Oleh (immigrant card that tracks your benefits) which most banks will not use to open an account for you. 

Transfer Wise is a bank account app with a credit card. They have the best transfer rate around as well as the lowest fees; lower than Chase, Capital One or anyone else.  You can transfer dollars or whatever currency you use into the secure app and immediately transfer them into shekels. You can hold balances in pounds and 55 other currencies all simultaneously and change at your convenience or when the rate suits you. Transfer Wise Master Card is accepted everywhere in Israel which makes it an amazing way to hit the ground running. You can add it to your shopping grocery app. You can pay the school fees. You can pay the health insurance fees. You getting the idea? All with no pressure that you are still unable to open your account with your Israeli bank. 

Why before I make Aliyah? Here is the catch: you can not open a TransferWise account, as of this writing, with an Israeli address; rather only with a US or Europe based address. 

Thus you need to open the account in advance of your Aliyah while still living at a verifiable address. 

Pro tip: You can only have one card holder per account so make sure to open one account for you and a separate one for your spouse. 

You will thank me as you cross things off your to do list paying with your Wise Card. And maybe we can even get that ice cream together.