JERUSALEM, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Bank Leumi, one of Israel's biggest banks, agreed in a deal Saturday to sell its credit card sector "Leumi Card" company to the U.S. private equity firm Warburg Pincus at a price of 2.5 billion new shekels (685 million U.S. dollars).

Leumi Card, founded in 1996, issues both Visa and MasterCard credit cards.

The two largest banks in Israel, Leumi and Hapoalim, were required under a new Israeli law, enacted in January 2017, to sell their holdings in credit card companies to encourage competition between banks.

According to the law, the two banks must sell their entire holdings in the credit card companies before January 2021.

The law was passed following advice from an Israeli public committee, which was set up by Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, to increase competition in common banking and financial services.