Grow is the Israeli payment company called Meshulam until 2023. What it sells a business, what Grow Payout changes for cash flow, and what to verify first.
Key takeaways
- Grow and Meshulam are the same company. A guide about "Meshulam API" describes this system.
- It is sold as a bundle - clearing, account, invoices and billing from one vendor. That is both the advantage and the risk.
- Money passes through its own account layer, so deposit timing is a product question, not only an acquirer question.
- The right coverage test is which payment methods your customers actually use, not the length of the feature list.
Grow is the Israeli payment provider that was called Meshulam until 2023. It sells an Israeli business card clearing, Bit for business and digital wallets, payment pages and payment requests, invoicing, a subscription billing module, and a business account. The structural difference from a classic gateway is that it also holds the account layer, not only the charging layer.
What Grow actually sells a business
Grow's own site positions the company as business banking rather than as a gateway, and that explains how the modules are divided. These are the modules listed there and what each one means in practice:
| Grow module | What it does | What to verify about it |
|---|---|---|
| Clearing and payment acceptance | Card charges from your site, by phone, and from a payment page | Which plans and transaction types your agreement covers |
| POS terminal and tap-on-phone | Taking payment in a physical business, including turning the phone into a terminal | Whether hardware is bought, rented, or not needed |
| Payment requests and sales pages | A payment link and a sales page without building a store | What you keep about a customer who was asked and did not pay |
| Invoices | Issuing a document against the transaction | Whether it replaces your invoicing software or sits beside it |
| Billing | Managing recurring charges and subscriptions | What happens when a card declines, and who sends the reminder |
| Grow account and Grow Payout | A business account layer and balance access without waiting for settlement | Under what terms Payout is active, and what it does to cost |
| Bit for business, PayBox, Apple Pay, Google Pay, bank transfer | Additional payment methods on the checkout page | Which of them need a separate agreement or activation |
| Developer API and plugins | Connections to WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Magento and your own systems | Who maintains the connection after go-live |
Two rows decide the question. The Grow account takes the company out of the gateway category - money is not merely routed through it, it sits there until you move it. And billing determines whether you still need a separate subscription system.
Why the name changed from Meshulam to Grow, and what it changes for you
The change is a rebrand of the same company, not a new vendor. It was registered in 2007 as Meshulam Payment Solutions Ltd and rebranded to Grow Payments in 2023, alongside an expansion from clearing alone into business banking services. Its Hebrew Wikipedia entry also records that in November 2023 it received a Bank of Israel identification code allowing it to participate directly in the national payment systems.
What that means operationally:
- Guides, plugins and code written against "Meshulam" still apply. It is the same system.
- Both names can appear in agreements, invoices and checkout pages. That is not a warning sign.
- The new name describes a wider product. If you want clearing only, you are buying part of a bundle, and that should be explicit in the agreement.
What is Grow Payout, and why does it touch cash flow?
Grow Payout is a product that gives access to the balance without waiting for the normal settlement date. This matters because in Israeli card clearing the deposit date is set in the acquiring agreement and can run on net-plus terms - a transaction cleared today can reach the account weeks later. A business with heavy running costs feels that gap more than it feels any fee.
Before assuming the problem is solved, ask:
- What the standard deposit date is in the agreement, without Payout.
- Under what conditions Payout is active, and for which transaction types.
- What it costs, and whether the charge is per transaction or a percentage.
- What happens to a refund or a chargeback after the money has already been drawn.
The fourth question is the one that gets skipped. Drawing money early from a transaction that later reverses creates a negative balance, so it needs to be settled in the agreement rather than discovered.
Which businesses it fits, and which it does not
It fits when:
- You want one vendor holding clearing, payment page, invoices and subscriptions instead of four contracts.
- Your customers pay with Bit and digital wallets, not only with cards.
- You sell both online and in a physical location and want both in one report.
- You run subscriptions and have no billing system of your own.
It fits less well when:
- You already run an ERP or accounting package that owns invoices and subscriptions, so part of the bundle is duplicated.
- You need clearing precisely, and paying for a broad bundle by module is worse value.
- Your architecture requires separating whoever clears from whoever holds the money.
What to check before you sign
This list replaces a price comparison, because a price without these terms is not a price:
- The actual deposit date, and the conditions under which it changes.
- Whether the plan includes the payment methods you need, or each is separate.
- Commitment period, exit cost, and what happens to your customers' tokens if you move.
- Who owns the connection to your store or system after go-live.
- What reconciliation report the system produces, and whether it exports as a file for bookkeeping.
The third line is the decisive one. A card token is usually the provider's asset rather than yours, which makes switching providers with live subscriptions a project of its own. That is the subject of switching payment provider with active subscriptions and what a payment token is and why it locks you in.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Are Meshulam and Grow the same company?
Yes. The company was registered in 2007 as Meshulam Payment Solutions Ltd and rebranded to Grow Payments in 2023. Same system, same API, different name. Documentation and code written under the Meshulam name still refer to the same service, and both names still appear in various places.
Is Grow a bank?
No. Its site uses business-banking language and offers a business account and a Payout product, but it is a payment solutions company. Its Wikipedia entry records a Bank of Israel identification code that allows direct participation in the payment systems, which is not the same as a banking licence.
Can I use Grow for clearing only and keep invoicing elsewhere?
That is exactly what to raise in negotiation. Grow offers an invoicing module, but a business already issuing invoices in an existing system does not need two. Make sure the agreement prices what you actually run, and that transactions flow into the existing invoicing system.
What is the first thing to compare between Israeli payment providers?
Deposit timing and exit terms, before the fee. A low fee with late settlement can cost a business more than a higher fee with fast settlement, and a commitment period with non-portable tokens turns changing provider into a project.
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About the author
Yehonatan Saadia
Freelance automation, web & MVP developer
I'm Yehonatan Saadia, a senior developer who builds business automation, custom websites, and MVPs for small and mid-sized companies across the US, Europe, and Israel. These guides come from real client work, not theory.
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