Discovery Bank launches Referral Programme

Johannesburg 19 May 2021 – Discovery Bank today launched Friend Referral Rewards, bringing more of the benefits of shared-value banking to existing and new clients.

The referral programme, the first of its kind among South African banks and financial institutions, will give clients the functionality to invite friends and family to sign up to the Bank – and for both clients and friends to get rewarded in the form of Discovery Miles, creating an eco-system of shared-value.

As a shared-value bank, Friends Referral Rewards brings together a number of unique and powerful assets of Discovery Bank’s model – an advanced digital banking capability that enables clients to open an account in minutes, the Discovery Miles rewards currency and the Discovery Pay platform that allows clients to easily see which of their contacts have a Discovery Bank account and to invite those that don’t.

“Internationally, some of the most successful technology-driven businesses, such as Airbnb and Uber, have reached unprecedented scale from “digital word-of-mouth” referrals and, at Discovery, we’ve always believed that our clients should be our greatest ambassadors as they experience our products first hand. Our banking platform is designed to offer an exciting user experience and facilitates a digital network where the rewards of shared-value banking can be multiplied across our client base – which is the foundation of Friend Referral Rewards,” says Discovery Bank CEO, Hylton Kallner.

Discovery Bank is fundamentally designed differently through its shared-value model. Clients create value as they manage their money well that Discovery Bank then shares back with them through better interest rates, deep discounts and Discovery Miles, the rewards currency which is worth more than cash. The overall outcome is unprecedented banking value for clients and lower risk of defaults for Discovery Bank, making the business more sustainable; it also addresses large-scale challenges, such as the need for increased savings to benefit society at large. Behaviour change and rewards are enabled through Vitality Money, an AI-powered programme on the Discovery Bank app. Vitality Money utilises data from multiple sources to create a personal profile of a client’s financial position, gives clients an understanding of the behaviours that influence their financial wellbeing and how to manage their money well.

“No other financial institution has adopted this referral approach and our enablement of clients to “gift” rewards to their friends and family while they also earn personal rewards in the process, talks to the fact that we have a powerful technology platform that powers our Bank, our product offerings and the value it creates for people. Making our clients ambassadors and advocates for our products reflects our belief that they are best-placed to tell the story of shared-value banking and its rewards in the most authentic way,” Kallner added.

The Bank’s Friend Referral Rewards will run from 14 May to 31 October 2021. Through a Discovery Bank app-enabled referral process, Discovery Bank clients with qualifying accounts who invite friends and family who join Discovery Bank will earn up to 5 000 Discovery Miles each. Clients can also bag an additional 2 500 bonus Discovery Miles for referring up to three friends who join and an extra 5 000 bonus Discovery Miles for referring up to 10 friends who activate qualifying accounts.

Kallner says, “We are also announcing a Discovery Bank Charity Challenge and our entire Executive team will take part. In the Challenge, our Discovery Bank and Vitality ambassadors will also battle it out to see who can raise the most Discovery Miles for their charities. The ambassadors are Caster Semenya (Caster Semenya Foundation), Chad le Clos (Chad le Clos Foundation), KG Montjane (Little Eden Society), Lucas Radebe (Gift of the Givers), Wayde van Niekerk (Wayde van Niekerk Foundation), Jo-Ann Strauss (UNICEF), Riaad Moosa (GiveLight Foundation), David Higgs (Reach for a Dream) and John Sanei (Woodstock Animal Rescue). Each ambassador will have their own unique referral code. The Discovery Miles that they earn when clients join Discovery Bank using their referral codes will be donated to their respective charities. Discovery Bank will also add an additional R25 000 to the charity of the winning ambassador – another way that our shared-value model is being applied as a force for good in society.”

Read more about Friend Referral Rewards and how it works here.

About Discovery Bank

Discovery Bank is part of Discovery Limited, a financial services organisation that operates in healthcare, life assurance, short-term insurance, savings and investment, behaviour-change programmes and banking across 28 markets. Since its inception in 1992, Discovery has been guided by a clear core purpose – to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives.