PODCAST | Discovery Bank’s growth over six years

The growth of Discovery Bank over six years is the focus of this edition of Business Day Spotlight. Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Hylton Kallner, CEO of Discovery Bank.

Discovery Bank is one of the country’s newest entrants, using a fully digital model with no physical branches. 

Kallner says the bank is performing very well with 1.1-million total clients and R21.2bn in deposits. The unit turned profitable for the first time in the six months to end-December. 

Though the bank is still in its start-up phase, it offers retail banking solutions, including deposits and loans and advances, to clients in the SA market. 

Kallner says billions have been spent on the digital backbone of the operation, benefiting from the wider Discovery group.

While existing Discovery clients have been a big source of business for the banking operation, Kallner says two out of three clients registering accounts are from outside of the ecosystem. 

Discovery Bank swung to a R69m operating profit, excluding the cost of customer acquisitions, in the six months to end-December from a loss of R154m the same time a year earlier. Including these costs, the company narrowed losses by 57% to R145m. The group now aims to triple its profits to R3bn in the next five years. 

Through the discussion, Kallner highlights the bank’s financial performance; road to profitability; technology investment; use of artificial intelligence; benefits of the Discovery ecosystem; and strategy for growth. 

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Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE Production.

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