Do you shop at Fox, Steimatzky, or Shekem Electric? How would you like to save up to 15% off your purchases? If you’re willing to invest a little bit of effort and time, you can (for at least the next two months). Isracard is now issuing a prepaid card – Yisracart Reshatot / ישראכרט רשתות – that will afford fixed discounts at a variety of retailers.
Competition between Israel’s credit card companies is heating up. Isracard Ltd. has launched an aggressive marketing campaign to boost its market share and give it an edge on its rivals. It has launched a preloaded credit card for private customers, which offers a fixed 15% discount at 20 retailers.
The preloaded credit cards offer customers terms that until now were limited to customer clubs such as Hever (the IDF and security forces servicemen and pensioners NGO). The new card is a kind of digital shopping coupon that can be purchased at any time and does not perish or expire, and can be reloaded.
Participating retailers
- Appliance stores: ALM, Shekem Electric
Clothing: Crazy Line, Fox, Golbary, Honigman, Honigman Kids, Jump, Kitan, Luchi, ml Men, ml Women, TNT, Zip- Computer supplies: Bug
- Book stores: Steimatzky, Tzomet Sfarim
- Home: Fox Home, Vardinon, נחמד, סולתם רדד
- Personal care & beauty: Body Shop, Laline, Sabon
- Other: Optica Halperin, ספורט ורטהיימר
How to order the card
According to Isracard, the details are as follows:
- Ordering a prepaid card (with no value) is free
- One prepaid card can be ordered per Israeli ID number
- Card should arrive within 10 business days
- After receipt of the prepaid card, value can be added via their website using an Isracard credit card
Limitations of the card
Important limitations include:
- The prepaid card can only be loaded with an Isracard credit card.
- The card is supposed to be used only by the person it was issued to. (In other words, it’s not supposed to be a cheap, prepaid debit card for your kids.)
- Prepaid cards expire 12 months are they are issued.
- The discounts are currently set to expire 28 February 2011. The discounts could be extended at that time, other discounts could become available, or there could be no discount at all.
- Some participating retailers have limitations on what can be purchased or the extent of the purchase, so check the details before getting a card or going to the store. For example, appliance store ALM limits the use of the card to 50% of the total purchase cost (meaning an effective discount of 7.5%).
Happy shopping!
If you shop at these stores or have a big purchase coming up, this deal may save you. If you have any experience with this prepaid card, please share in the comments.
