Discovery Bank has launched a number of new features in its banking app, while also including virtual cards.
The bank said that clients now get up to 20% off when they spend their Discovery Miles online and in-store.
Customers can also make payments to their contacts who are Discovery Vitality members through Discovery Pay by using their mobile number, the bank said.
The changes are outlined in more detail below.
Discovery Miles
Discovery said that Vitality Money members save up to 20% more when they use their Discovery Miles at its online partner network or when buying services such as airtime, data, prepaid water and electricity.
Clients get 5% off for every Vitality programme that they have activated, plus an additional 5% for having a Discovery Bank account and credit card.
The discount is structured as follows:
- Vitality Health = +5% discount;
- Vitality Drive = +5% discount;
- Vitality Money = +5% discount;
- Discovery Bank suite = +5% discount.
The more clients engage with Vitality, the bigger their Discovery Miles discounts will be through the Discovery Miles online retail partner network.
This network includes Takealot.com, Loot.co.za, iStore, Dial a Bed, Coricraft, NetFlorist, Yuppiechef, Zando, Dis-Chem and other stores.
Discovery Bank customerss can also spend in-store by generating a voucher using their Discovery Bank app.
Discovery Pay
The bank said that Discovery Pay will allow customers to make payments without the need for banking details.
Payments can be made to any of their smartphone contacts who are active on the Vitality programme, which has over one million members.
“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.
“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,” said Akash Dowra, head of client insights at Discovery Bank.
Virtual cards
Discovery said that its virtual cards offer the same benefits as physical cards: travel insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty and rewards.
The addition means that new clients will immediately have a card to transact with. Existing clients can easily add a virtual card on the Discovery Bank app.
Discovery Bank recommends using virtual cards for online transactions and subscriptions, and for payment platforms like Apple, Samsung and Netflix.
“Because it’s possible to have more than one virtual card, clients can select the types of transactions they want to use each card for,” it said.
This lowers the risk of their bank card being compromised. Clients can also add as many virtual cards as they need – at no additional cost.
“By using both a physical card and a virtual card for different transactions, our clients have the ability to elevate the security on their banking transactions and protect themselves against potential fraud,” said Dowra.
This added protection comes from every virtual card having its own unique card number, expiry date and card verification value (CVV), he said.
Because a virtual card is safely stored inside the Discovery Bank app, it can never be lost, and it is always on hand as long as a client has their device with 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.
“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,” said Dowra.
Business Tech
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