Canadian fintech Nuvei has received a payment clearing license from the Israel Securities Authority, opening a new chapter in its push into one of the region's most digitally active consumer markets. The approval, which followed an application process that began roughly eighteen months ago, allows the company to process payments in local currency for international merchants serving Israeli customers. The move comes as Nuvei prepares to absorb Payoneer, the Israeli fintech it agreed to acquire for $2.75 billion in a deal signed in June.
Why local clearing matters for merchants and shoppers
The license was driven largely by demand from Nuvei's existing clients, primarily large online retailers that wanted to grow their Israeli business. Among them are fast-fashion and marketplace platforms such as Shein and Temu, as well as airlines including Lufthansa and KLM. For these merchants, the central problem has been structural. An Israeli customer paying with a domestic card is, from the merchant's side, an international transaction, and international transactions carry higher processing fees and a greater likelihood of being flagged for fraud review.
Nuvei says a local clearing arrangement changes that equation. Payments can be routed through local credit cards and settled in shekels, which reduces the cost to the merchant and lowers the rate of transactions incorrectly declined as suspicious. Yuval Ziv, Nuvei's president, argues that these savings should ultimately reach consumers, though the company has not specified how or whether individual retailers will pass them on.
What the license does and does not cover
The distinction between clearing and card issuance is important. The license covers the processing and settlement of payments; it does not permit Nuvei to issue credit cards, so the company will not compete directly with card networks or issuing banks. Nuvei will also connect to SHVA, the Automated Bank Services network that handles interbank clearing in Israel, as is required of financial entities operating in the country.
For most consumers, the service will be invisible. Checkout pages will look much the same, and the difference will show up mainly in how the transaction is processed behind the scenes.
A market of modest size, with a growing footprint
Israel's population is small, but Ziv points to the purchasing power and online habits of its residents, who shop digitally at high rates and travel abroad frequently. Nuvei already has a foothold through its 2019 acquisition of SafeCharge, founded by Teddy Sagi, for $890 million, and through its 2021 purchase of the cryptocurrency payments provider Simplex for $250 million. The Simplex deal is widely regarded as the less successful of the two.
The company currently employs about 350 people at its Tel Aviv hub, out of a global workforce of roughly 2,600, with headquarters in Montreal. Its Israeli operations are set to expand substantially once the Payoneer acquisition closes. Payoneer is comparable to Nuvei in revenue and headcount, and the combined company is projected to reach an annual revenue run rate of around $3 billion and employ close to 5,000 people.
Serving Israel's high-tech exporters
Beyond retail, Nuvei plans to court Israel's high-tech sector. Many of the country's technology firms export their products and services, receiving payments from overseas customers that must be cleared and converted. Dedicated clearing services can simplify that flow, and the license positions Nuvei to compete for that business alongside its work with large merchants. Whether the company can convert its global client base into a durable local advantage will depend on how well it balances lower costs with the reliability and fraud controls that merchants expect.
