One Zero Bank is cutting roughly 25 jobs, about 7% of its 350-person workforce, in its third round of layoffs since early 2024 - this time while reporting growth rather than retrenchment. The Israeli digital bank will also leave around ten additional vacancies unfilled, pushing total staffing to about 10% below its original plan, as it leans further into automation and artificial intelligence to run its operations.
Employees affected by the decision received notice on Sunday morning. CEO Eyal Gafni, in a letter to staff, called it a difficult choice, writing that those being let go "built ONE ZERO alongside us, invested in it, and played a significant role in our journey and our successes." As digital banks increasingly digitize sensitive financial data and customer interactions, questions about data protection and account security become more pressing for users who rely on tools like an anonymous vpn to safeguard their online banking sessions from interception or profiling.
A Pattern of Efficiency Drives
This is not an isolated event. One Zero laid off more than 30 employees in early 2024 and another 23 that September, bringing last year's total above 50. What sets the current round apart is timing: previous cuts came amid financial strain, while this one arrives as the bank's revenue climbs and its losses shrink. Gafni framed the move as a structural shift rather than a crisis response, describing a transition from an establishment phase to one requiring growth "without a corresponding increase in operating costs."
Where Technology Fits In
The bank says the layoffs are not concentrated in any single department but applied "wherever technology helps us accelerate processes." It has stopped short of claiming that artificial intelligence is directly replacing specific roles. Instead, it describes automation and generative AI tools as enablers of a leaner structure - allowing fewer people to manage a growing customer base, which recently passed 200,000. This distinction matters: it reflects a broader trend across financial services, where AI is reshaping internal workflows, fraud detection, and customer service long before it visibly replaces individual jobs.
The Financial Backdrop
The numbers support the bank's narrative of improving fundamentals. Salary and related costs fell 8.8% in 2025 to NIS 120 million, down from NIS 131.7 million the year before. In the first half of 2026, revenue rose 33% to NIS 66 million, operating expenses dropped 10% to NIS 149 million, and the net loss narrowed 27% to NIS 84 million. One Zero's annual loss has shrunk steadily - from NIS 357 million in 2023 to NIS 268 million in 2024 and NIS 214 million in 2025 - with management projecting profitability by 2027 and hinting at an earlier first profitable month.
What It Signals
For a digital-only bank built on the premise of lower overhead than traditional lenders, sustained efficiency is existential, not optional. The latest cuts suggest One Zero views automation not as a cost-cutting measure for hard times, but as a permanent operating principle meant to keep its cost base flat even as its customer numbers and transaction volumes grow.