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DataEQ’s 2023 South African Banking Sentiment Index has ranked Discovery Bank first in Public Net Sentiment when excluding marketing campaigns.
The eighth annual report reveals how South African consumers perceive the country’s big retail banks based on people's social media posts. This year’s Index is a comprehensive barometer of consumer sentiment, as DataEQ analysed a significant dataset of over 4.3 million social media mentions from 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2023.
Discovery Bank ranks first in Public Net Sentiment without campaigns
“At Discovery Bank, we have thousands of metrics to measure our operational performance daily, but arguably, the one I pay the most attention to is the social media sentiment of our clients. It provides us with an immediate feedback mechanism; it’s a real-time mirror and reality check on how our clients perceive our performance,” said Jo-Anne Hendricks, Head of Marketing at Discovery Bank.
Notably, the 2023 Index revealed that Discovery Bank ranked first in Public Net Sentiment – without marketing campaigns. This is thanks to the bank’s value-added services such as Vitality Travel, Discovery Miles, innovative offerings like solar financing, and its real-time payment system, Discovery Pay. The bank also had the biggest increase in overall customer sentiment performance out of all the Index’s eight contenders.
“The Index adds great value and significant insights to benefit the industry and all the clients of South African banks,” Hendricks adds.
Source: South African Banking Sentiment Index 2023
“We believe that ranking first in Public Net Sentiment – without marketing campaigns – is the most authentic reflection of client sentiment,” says Hendricks. “However, Discovery Bank also showed the greatest improvement when campaigns were included, with our Public Net Sentiment score increasing nearly five times.”
Discovery Bank in top two for Public Net Sentiment and digital experience
Discovery Bank also rose by just over 32 percentage points in its overall customer sentiment performance, with the bank climbing from fourth to second place – the biggest increase out of all eight contenders in Net Sentiment.
Even though Discovery Bank has a smaller share-of-voice than its competitors, accounting for only 7.7% in conversations about digital account experience, the Index ranked the bank in the top two for positive perception on this topic. Discovery Bank won the 2023 MyBroadband Award for Best Digital Bank, and the bank’s app continues to be an industry leader in features, usability, and integration capabilities.
Among the big banks, Discovery Bank was the first to launch Apple Pay support, foreign currency accounts can be opened in-app, and integration with EasyEquities lets clients open a new EasyEquities account, link an existing one, and trade through the Discovery Bank app. Discovery Bank clients can also use their banking app to view medical aid account claims and savings, book flights through Vitality Travel, and track spending habits and earn Discovery Miles based on financial behaviours through Vitality Money.
“The latest Index captures a broad and often loud voice,” comments Hendricks.
“Discovery Bank couldn’t have hoped for a better result, especially as we continue to enhance our products and improve the service that we deliver to our clients every day,” she concludes.
This post and content is sponsored, written and produced by Discovery Bank.
