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Fintech. It's a buzzword on everyone's lips right now. It's certainly on the lips of investors: last year saw record global investment of more than R1.5-trillion in fintech, according to KPMG, with a large chunk of that going to start-ups – a sign of the disruptive times in which we live.
Since 2014, we've seen a remarkable rise in fintech offerings across a variety of specialised finance-related services such as investments and trading, digital payments, mega-app platforms, data and advice tools, and behavioural and rewards systems. However, as numerous as these services may be, they have historically remained fragmented, making it difficult for consumers to take advantage of the sheer breadth of fintech innovation out there.
The rise of digital-only banks, which are both inherently geared towards innovation and more adaptable by design, is changing that. Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner says that, as a completely digital bank, Discovery Bank can quickly adapt to the latest banking trends and implement technology that places clients at the forefront of future banking.
"Discovery Bank has announced new digital and fintech innovations for a comprehensive digital financial services experience," explains Kallner. "With the latest features, our clients have access to a full range of financial capabilities in one place: our digital banking platform. This platform is not only transforming banking services and client behaviour but is also connecting the different components of Discovery’s products and services for a seamless client experience across the Discovery Group."
To this end, Kallner says the following Discovery Bank enhancements will be made available from October through the first quarter of 2022 on a phased basis.
Discovery Bank Multicurrency FX Account
In today's increasingly connected world, ease of forex access is becoming essential for many. Moreover, people are seeking greater opportunities for diversification of their investments. But transacting and trading in foreign currencies is never quite as straightforward as it should be.
"South Africans invest 75% of their assets in the country, yet these investments make up just 0.3% of total investments in the world," says Kallner. "Diversification in investment portfolios is an important lever to lower investment risk." Kallner says that despite this, saving and transacting in foreign currencies is often considered a luxury only available to a few. "We are changing this by making it affordable and easy for all our clients to save and transact in the currency of their choice with a Multicurrency FX Account, opened in three easy steps on the Discovery Bank app."
Once its authorised dealer licence is approved, Discovery Bank will offer clients the opportunity to set up forex accounts in euro, US dollar and British pound without any additional documents. Furthermore, the Multicurrency FX Account enables clients to receive international payments and make payments in more than 60 currencies, add a virtual forex card for free, or get a smart Multicurrency FX Account debit card to make withdrawals and purchases while travelling abroad. Kallner says the Multicurrency FX Account offers very low fees (zero for certain accounts) and does not require a minimum balance, while transaction fees can be allocated to a beneficiary or shared, and foreign currencies can be managed in the app.
EasyEquities on the Discovery Bank app
Another aspect of finance that is often opaque to the man in the street is share trading. To make it more accessible, Discovery Bank has partnered with low-cost investment platform EasyEquities to give its clients a simple and easy-to-understand view of local and international share trading and investment information from within the Discovery Bank app. Clients can search, buy and trade EasyEquities shares in South African rand, US dollar, and Australian dollar directly from the banking app.
Kallner says clients can open a trading account directly in the Discovery Bank app or link their existing EasyEquities account to a Discovery Bank account to trade and store their shares. "They'll always have a detailed breakdown of their shares or exchange trade funds, baskets, property investments and more. There’s no additional cost for this service, and clients can seamlessly track their trades and invest in international stocks, including those of huge global brands like Apple, Google or Tesla, while earning Vitality Money points towards saving in the process."
Vitality Money Financial Analyser
Discovery Bank’s Vitality Money is designed to help clients manage their money wisely by rewarding them for engaging in sound financial behaviour. Complementing this is the newly launched Vitality Money Financial Analyser, which provides clients with a real-time view of their finances and trends in their spending habits. Kallner says that the app can also automatically create budgets for clients based on these behavioural trends and send intelligent reminders and personalised alerts on clients’ financial goals and progress.
The programme uses advanced analytics and data processing to give personalised information about monthly income, savings, and spending. Users can assign their expenses to more than 160 pre-set categories, or personalise and reorder categories if they wish, with the app providing weekly insights into spending trends in each category over time. This enables clients to understand their spending, budgets and saving, while earning rewards for managing their money well, including Vitality Money points for engaging with the Vitality Money Financial Analyser.
Discovery Bank travel platform
With more people getting vaccinated and more countries around the world opening up, the hope is that 2022 will be the year that travel really kicks off once more. To prepare for this, Vitality Travel is offering its clients new travel benefits and a wider choice as Discovery Bank extends its travel offering to include an all-new, end-to-end travel platform in the Discovery Bank app.
"Discovery clients value travel and we enjoy making their travels more rewarding," says Vitality CEO Dinesh Govender. "In a typical year, Vitality clients book more than 1 million flights and 100 000 hotel-room nights through Vitality Travel."
Govender says the new Discovery Bank travel platform will facilitate seamless bookings and discounts on a wider range of local and international flights, accommodation and holiday packages based on Vitality Health, Drive and Money integration. "The platform makes viewing travel options, making bookings and storing travel details much easier, and will offer Discovery Bank clients an extended local airline range, providing discounted flights to more than 40 destinations across southern Africa."
Discovery Pay
Payments were going digital before Covid-19, but the pandemic has provided great impetus for the implementation and integration of sophisticated, user-friendly digital payment systems. Kallner says the Discovery Bank app provides an ideal payment platform for clients to make direct payments to a broad network of healthcare and Vitality providers, making these transactions simpler and more hassle-free.
"Clients will be able to make health payments through the Discovery Bank app to all hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories and approximately 6 500 GPs, for example, by linking their Discovery Bank card to their Discovery Health Medical Scheme membership," says Kallner. "Any possible future co-payments will then be automatically settled without the need to submit claims or additional paperwork. We’ll also award Discovery Miles for these healthcare payments at the same rate as for normal credit card transactions."
The Discovery Pay platform also enables secure payments between Discovery contacts using just a cellphone number, no matter what bank they are with.
There's a fitness benefit in the offing as well, adds Govender. From early 2022, Discovery Pay will include the Pay as you Gym benefit for visits to more than 150 Virgin Active or Planet Fitness facilities across the country. "Once activated, clients will receive free three visits at the gym partner of their choice. These gym visits will be automatically logged for Vitality points and will count towards clients’ Vitality Active Rewards exercise goals. Clients who use Discovery Pay to fund gym visits as they go will pay as little as R75 at a basic gym facility and R100 at a flagship gym facility. We believe this adds real flexibility to fitness options, and Discovery Pay makes it easier to pay and to earn Vitality points."
This post was sponsored by Discovery Bank and created by BrandStudio24.
