New Discovery Bank features launched – Including a virtual card

Discovery Bank has announced a number of changes to its digital banking services with the latest release of its mobile application.

These include virtual cards for online shopping, the ability for clients to get up to 20% off when they spend their Discovery Miles online and in-store through the bank’s partner network, and the ability to make payments to their contacts who are Discovery Vitality members through Discovery Pay.

“Every day is Black Friday with Discovery Miles, the world’s first shared-value rewards currency,” Discovery Bank said.

“Vitality Money members can now save up to 20% more when they use their Discovery Miles at the Bank’s online partner network or when they use Discovery Miles to buy value-added services such as airtime, data, prepaid water, and electricity.”

Clients can get up to 5% off for every Vitality programme that they have activated, plus an additional 5% for having a Discovery Bank account and credit card.

These discounts are structured as follows:

Vitality Health: +5% discount
Vitality Drive: +5% discount
Vitality Money: +5% discount
Vitality Bank Suite: +5% discount

The Discovery Miles partner network includes Takealot.com, Loot.co.za, iStore, Dial a Bed, Coricraft, NetFlorist, Yuppiechef, Zando, Dis-Chem and many more.

Discovery Bank clients can also spend in-store by generating a voucher using their Discovery Bank app.

Virtual card

Discovery Bank’s new virtual card functionality allows customers to set up multiple virtual cards for online payment within the banking app.

These cards are issued instantly, and Discovery Bank recommends clients use this feature for online transactions and subscriptions, such as online shopping and Netflix.

Clients can select the types of transactions they want to use each card for, which lowers the risk of their bank card being compromised, Discovery said.

Clients can also add as many virtual cards as they need at no additional cost.

Each virtual card has its own card number, expiry date, and CVV, and is stored securely within the Discovery Bank app.

“With this new capability, our clients will never be left stranded without a card. It’s stored safely in the Discovery Bank app,” Discovery Bank head of client insights Akash Dowra said.

“Furthermore, when the card expires, it will be replaced automatically and we will carry across any regular payments to the new card, taking away the admin for our clients.”

“Our innovative banking model, with the Vitality Money shared-value platform at the centre, and our leading digital and security capabilities are key differentiators that we will continue to evolve as we broaden our offerings to give clients even more convenience, safety, and security.”

Discovery Pay

Discovery Pay allows clients to make payments without the need for a recipient’s banking details.

They can simply choose to make a payment by selecting a smartphone contact and using their cellphone number, provided the recipient is active on the Discovery Vitality programme.

“Discovery Bank clients can send money seamlessly to a Vitality client from their banking app if they have the cellphone number saved in their contact list,” Dowra said.

“We’ll then securely deposit the funds into the existing linked and verified bank account for the Vitality client, which means it is not necessary to share any banking details over email or in other correspondence.”