“
Hi HTT, your new Discovery Card is waiting. Join Discovery Bank today!
We’re pleased to invite you to be one of the first to get a new Discovery Card with Discovery Bank. We’ll seamlessly transfer your current balance, any linked debit orders and your credit limit to your new Discovery Card.
Download the Discovery Bank app and select Join the bank today!
You need to take the first step to move your Discovery Card to Discovery Bank. It will take you less than five minutes.
A banking product that helps you bank healthier
As the world’s first behavioural bank, we’ll help you manage your money well, and reward you every step of the way. Sign up for your new Discovery Platinum Card or full banking suite. If you have any secondary cards, the cardholders will be invited to register on the Discovery Bank app when you are done. Read more about the features, benefits and fees of your new Discovery Card, or browse our full banking suite and savings products.
Banking that gives you better rewards
Get rewarded for banking well with Vitality Money. Track your progress on the app – how much you get is up to you. You’ll benefit from interest rates that flex monthly – get higher interest rates on savings and positive balances, as well as up to 4% less on your credit.
You’ll also enjoy a world of new rewards like up to 50% off local flights, up to 50% cash back on HealthyFood, HealthyCare and HealthyGear items, up to 15% back on fuel, Uber rides and more.
Bank on the go – it’s safe and secure
Enjoy complete control with your bank branch in the palm of your hand. Bank anytime, anywhere, and with extensive mobile banking security. You’ll be able to pay safely and faster than ever before with innovative features like having your phone contacts become payment beneficiaries and the ability to complete easy payments linked to your health plan.
We’re moving to a better way of banking
Some of the ways that you used your Discovery Card in the past will change for the better – read more about the details. Remember, you can continue to use your current Discovery Card until your new card arrives. If you have any questions, please call us on 0860 11 2265 (BANK) or email us at service@discovery.bank
It’s time to bank healthier.The Discovery Bank team
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So, I read all the links provided… and more – in fact there are so many links that I lost track of them when I wanted to review the information so I made a list of the links that helped me decide whether to take up the offer:
https://mybroadband.co.za/news/banking/314891-here-it-is-discovery-banks-account-prices-and-discounts.html
https://businesstech.co.za/news/banking/306820/discovery-bank-hints-at-fee-structure/
Some things I wanted to highlight for myself (and for you):
| Vitality Money | |
| Dynamic interest rates | |
| Monthly fee | |
| Local flights discount | |
| Discounted gym membership | |
| Discounted borrowing rate | |
| Automatic warranty extension of up to 24 months | |
| Online training: R750 | https://worth.co.za |
As a Discovery Bank client, you will earn Discovery Miles based on your Discovery Bank credit card spend. These will accumulate separately on the Discovery Bank app and you’ll be able to spend them from September 2019 in even bigger, better ways.
I called Discovery Bank to confirm this: You’ll earn 1 mile for every R15 that you spend on your Discovery Black Card, or R20 on your Discovery Platinum or Gold Card.
Ummm, hold on – if the number of miles is reduced (from 1 mile per R15, to per R20 spend) that’s a loss of R67 per month on a monthly spend of say R40,000.
That’s 25% less.
"Up to" Cashbacks: Platinum Card
|
| Local flights: <= 60% |
| Gym: <= 100% |
| Healthy foods <= 50% |
| Healthy Care <= 50% |
| Healthy Gear <= 50% |
| Fuel <= 15% (limited to R1,000 fuel per month) = R150 |
| Uber <= 15% |
The accounts are broadly defined by income level:
Gold: Low to middle income (earning less than R350,000 a year);
Platinum: Middle to high income (earning R350,000 to R850,000 a year);
Black: High income (earning R850,000 or more a year);
Purple: Invitation only for very wealthy customers.
Credit cards comparison: https://www.discovery.co.za/bank/discovery-credit-card-comparison
Transactional Banking
One fee for all your transactions as compared to Pay per transaction:
Example costs on pay per transaction:
| Total: | R 230.00 | ||
| Monthly | 60.00 | ||
| Vitality money | 25.00 | ||
| Payments | 12 | 2.50 | 30.00 |
| Debit orders | 18 | 3.75 | 67.50 |
| Cash withdraw | 14 | 2.00 | 28.00 |
| ATM withdrawal | 1,000.00 | 19.50 | 19.50 |
Vitality Money information
If you are a member of Vitality Drive and Vitality Money, then the discounts get added.
Note: the Vitality Money cashback has a limit of R1,000 petrol purchase – so, if you are on the “up to 20%” cashback on Vitality Money, then the maximum cashback will be R200 per month.
DiscoveryCard spend bands and other “small print”
On one of my calls to the Discovery Bank call centre I asked about the BP cashbacks: If I spent R1,500 per month on petrol, and I managed to get onto Silver Vitality Money status, then what would my cashback be?Answer: Well, that depends on your credit card colour, and credit card spend, and Vitality Money status – and there are Discovery card spend band matrix that map spend to cashbacks; and it is limited to R1,000 petrol spend (same limit on all cards: Black, Platinum, Gold cards)). The Vitality Drive cashback benefit is also paid out. For platinum card, a spend over R25,000 per month the cashback is 20% = R200.
Platinum Discovery Card spend bands:
R5,000 (spend band 1) to R25,000 (spend band 4) per month
=> Silver status on spend band 4 gives 12% cashback => max R120 (since petrol spend is capped at R1,000 per month).
=> Diamond status on spend band 4 gives 20% cashback => max R200 (since petrol spend is capped at R1,000 per month).
Vitality Money status [points... not confirmed - I think...from call centre calls] (Blue (39,999), Bronze (40,000 to 59,999), Silver (60,000 to 69,999), Gold (70,000 to 79,999 plus Discovery Savings account of R40,000), Diamond (over 80,000 plus Discovery Savings account of R100,000) is dependent on 5 factors: 1) Debt management, 2) Savings, 3) Savings for retirement, 4) Short and long term insurance (medical aid, and life insurance, and sort term insurance), 5) Assets or property.
See here for more info: http://michaelrobert.co.za/how-vitality-money-works
If you haven't already... then please read this excellent post from MichaelRobert.co.za: 10 things before moving your Discovery Card
I also asked if there’s a 3 year “timer” to get from Gold Vitality Money status level to Diamond – and there isn’t.
Let me know in the comments below if you have found some more small print or ifs-and-buts.
Update 1 (4th Aug 2019): So, everyone has been asking me... so, what did you do? Did you join?
Well, if it wasn't for all the open questions that I had - the main one being the Discovery Miles... I would have joined immediately. I downloaded the DiscoveryBank app (Android, Apple), took my selfie, read the terms and conditions, called their call centre (0860 11 2265) a few times, and investigated a bit ;)
Then, I clicked the "Accept" button. Then: "Great choice HTT... let's finalise your application": Employment status, Employment sector, Employment division, Occupation, Employer, Marital status and type, Address;
Foreign tax and citizenship info
Additional cards (R30 each per month),
Verify email address, enter OTP,
Declare that all info provided is correct,
Congratulations, your application has been submitted - we will notify you when your account(s) are open. Please keep using your existing Discovery Card until you receive your new one.
Update 2 (4th Aug 2019): A few minutes later, two SMSs and two emails:
"Discovery Bank: Your new card is being prepared. Expect a call from DSV couriers to confirm delivery"
and
"Congrats and welcome! Your credit card account is now open. Log in to the app to start banking with us. Regards, Discovery Bank"
and
my wife got an SMS asking her to download the app.
Update 3 (10th Aug 2019): After 5 days of not being able to login to the Discovery banking app, and calling the call centre twice (hanging on for over 12 minutes each time), I figured out a workaround - so it's sort of, SOLVED.
I logged in on another phone fine and while playing with it, I figured out that the problem was caused because I disallowed the app access to my Contacts ('permission' was OFF).
On the other phone, it was off too - but logged in fine.
Giving the app access to my Contacts on my phone "fixed" it :( (I hate giving apps access to my Contacts)
Update 4 (10th Aug 2019): The maximum points that I can receive on Vitality Money on a Platinum card is:
Retirement: 10,000
Debt Management: 25,000
Savings: 25,000
Insurance: 25,000
Property: 15,000
Proof of (non-Discovery products) contributions need to be provided within 150 days to keep benefits.
Points awarded for achieved goals in 55 days :(
Update 5 (11th Aug 2019): Browsing the Discovery Vitality web site: https://www.discovery.co.za/vitality/rewards-not-qualifying I found that I now need to deposit a monthly amount of R17,500 into the account - now what is a "Discovery 1+ account"
"
If you don't make the minimum required deposit for your Discovery 1+ account, you'll still qualify for Dynamic Interest Rates. You'll get the rate applicable to the Discovery 1 account, but only if your account is in good standing. You can view your Dynamic Interest Rates on the Discovery Bank app.
"
Update 6 (3rd Oct 2019): I CLOSED my DiscoveryBank account.
Bottom line - they are not ready for me as a Client - the info available and rules are not available on the web pages. The app isn't ready for me (and I suspect many others) to use.
DiscoveryMiles aren't available yet (I have just seen a Tweet that you get 1 mile for R50 spend! (As compared to R15 per mile with the "old" DiscoveryCard (powered by FNB).
I never received my secondary cards - no response to my emails (and no call backs), and I wasn't going to wait in the call centre queues for another 20 minutes.
I was getting charged the R60 monthly fee for VitalityMoney and I was getting no value (since I didn't activate my new DiscoveryCard because I didn't have my secondary cards.
I was getting charged the monthly credit card fee and I hadn't activated the new credit card.
I didn't fancy the idea of swiping the separate Vitality Food card as well as my new DiscoveryCard.
The spending bands were not published and I had to ask the call centre staff to send the info to me (after seeing some tweets about this).
I seem to remember the full banking suite monthly charge changed after this blog post...
The savings goals seems way out of reach for me... so I doubt that I would ever be in the top tier rewards bracket.
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