{"id":657152,"date":"2026-07-07T17:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T15:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=657152"},"modified":"2026-07-07T17:29:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T15:29:24","slug":"discovery-bank-changes-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/ai\/657152-discovery-bank-changes-the-game.html","title":{"rendered":"Discovery Bank changes the game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Discovery Bank has launched new AI-powered features that help automate the tedious process of capturing banking information when paying new beneficiaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a notice to customers on Tuesday, Discovery Bank introduced what it described as a completely new way to make payments through Discovery AI in its banking app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include pay by chat, uploading invoices to the AI chat interface, or taking a photo of invoice from which the AI will set up the transaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While transactions are prepared automatically, users must review and approve them before they are executed. “No forms. No admin. No stress,” Discovery stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples of instructions the Discovery AI can convert into transactions include “Pay R1,000 to DStv for July” and “Purchase 3GB MTN mobile data”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“With Discovery AI, payments become simpler, faster, and more intuitive \u2014 while you stay fully in control by reviewing and approving every payment before it’s processed,” the bank said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Bank said these new features are only available within the Discovery Bank app and not its WhatsApp-based Discovery AI interface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You can still access Discovery AI through WhatsApp, but the real magic happens in your banking app,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bank first introduced Discovery AI in April 2025, which was initially only available through WhatsApp. It was since added to the Discovery Bank app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Bank said it offered a comprehensive artificial intelligence capability powering a more personalised, sophisticated and intelligent digital banking experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially focused on informational services, the bank said Discovery AI could provide details about products and rewards using a text or voice note, or by uploading an image or document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It offers proactive guidance by securely analysing your account and transaction data to give you personalised insights and recommendations, making your banking simpler and more rewarding,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery AI also allows customers to analyse transactions, manage budgets, and see their financial trends over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Bank achieved operating profit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Adrian Gore, Discovery Group CEO <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Discovery announced in March that its bank had reached a milestone<\/a> in the half-year ended 31 December 2025 by achieving its first normalised operating profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It swung from a R145 million loss in the previous period to a R75 million profit for the six months ended 31 December 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bank reported that its total client base grew by 28% to 1.4 million customers, driven by an accelerating acquisition rate, which reached approximately 1,500 clients per day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Significantly for Discovery, more than 70% of these new bank clients are entirely new to the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, it said, demonstrated the bank’s ability to attract customers beyond its traditional health and life insurance base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Net non-interest revenue surged by 39% to R848 million, boosted by higher product take-up and increased engagement through Discovery’s Vitality rewards system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Net interest income also grew by 27% to R623 million, supported by robust expansion in the bank’s lending book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retail deposits grew by 21% to reach R25.7 billion, while gross retail advances increased by a massive 42% to R11.1 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This increase in advances was heavily supported by strong growth in home loans, which reached R2.9 billion at the end of the period, and a 48% increase in the bank’s revolving credit facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Bank said its operating efficiency improved as the bank benefited from growing economies of scale and the integration of artificial intelligence into its service channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said these efficiency gains were realised through the increased use of AI and automated service channels, which helped drive down costs even as the client base grew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Group CEO Adrian Gore said the successful deployment of the Vitality Shared-value model has manifested in scalable growth for the bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The group’s continued investment in and deployment of AI into the platforms provide a clear opportunity to propel the model forward into a new phase,” said Gore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These opportunities include demonstrable increases in engagement and outcomes in some of the early developments.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discovery Bank has launched new AI-powered features that help automate the tedious process of capturing banking information when paying new beneficiaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":652694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2074516292942327995","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92837],"tags":[38880],"class_list":["post-657152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai","tag-discovery-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":657156,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657152\/revisions\/657156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}