פישוט האינטראקציה בין בנקים ללקוחותיהם – לקראת מודרניזציה של לשון החוזה הבנקאי האחיד

The article discusses the linguistic and conceptual-informative features that make the language of the interactions between banks and their retail customers impenetrable for the average customer. We argue that the linguistic and conceptual-informative gaps between the parties are the main reasons that make the banking contract incomprehensible for the average customer. We show that these gaps derive not only from the complex grammar and convoluted wording of the contract, but also – and mainly – from the complexity of meanings and ideas implicitly conveyed throughout the contract, based on knowledge that is obvious to lawyers and bankers, but not to the average customer.We argue that these gaps are rooted in three types of failures of communication between the bank and the customer: failures in decoding the grammar; failures in the interpretation of archaic words from the general Hebrew and professional terms; and failures in completing implicit information contained in inter-textual links. These failures refer not only to the explicit layers of the text, but also to the conceptual information (both legal and financial) that is implicitly delivered. The article makes a first attempt to provide a scientific elucidation of the abovementioned failures, based on systematic linguistic analysis. The test case chosen for this analysis is the contract for managing a bank account, which is the basic contract that regulates the relationship between the bank and its customers and serves as a basis for the variety of activities and transactions that customers perform with the bank. The article calls for streamlining the communication between banks and their customers by rephrasing the banking contract in plain language, according to the innovative linguistic-conceptual-informative model detailed in it. In light of technological developments and the growing trend of online banking, the article offers an innovative way of fulfilling the aforementioned obligations in the digital age, increasing information accessibility and transparency.