JOHANNESBURG - Financial services group Discovery launched their much-touted bank today at its headquarters in Sandton, Johannesburg.
The Discovery Bank is expected to give stiff competition to South Africas’s biggest banks including Standard Bank, Nedbank and FirstRand.
It is also one of six banks and banking services to be announced in recent months.
Adrian Gore the chief executive of Discovery said at the launch that the company is preparing to open its bank offering to the public in March.
Speaking to journalists at the group’s headquarters, Gore said the group expects to continue the process of testing the functionality of the bank over the festive season.
He also said that the group’s successful behavioural model would be extended to the bank.
This will include offering customers discounts of up to 75 percent for flights and fuel depending on their behaviour.
“Traditional banks are silo-based and don’t engage people. Our bank will be based on behaviour changes,” said Gore.
Gore added that Vitality Money will be the foundation of the bank.
“We aim to make people healthy in a financial sense,” said Gore.