Discovery Bank is taking its Superbank strategy into its biggest phase yet, turning the South African lender’s banking app into a single digital gateway for Discovery’s financial, health and lifestyle products. The move comes as the bank targets R3 billion ($179.62 million) in profit by 2029, following its first full-year profit of R370 million ($22.15 million) in 2026.

The fully fledged Superbank, unveiled at Discovery Day, will allow customers to manage products ranging from short-term insurance to unit trusts through the banking platform. Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner said the model is designed to connect customers’ financial and lifestyle behaviour while converting the value they create into a broader rewards currency.

The strategy is also changing Discovery Bank’s role within the group. About 70% of new bank customers have no other Discovery products, making the lender an increasingly important entry point into the wider ecosystem. Discovery is now using that customer growth to expand the bank beyond traditional banking and make it the primary digital touchpoint for its South African clients.

Discovery Bank becomes Discovery’s growth engine

Under the new model, clients will eventually manage their Discovery products through the banking app, from short-term insurance to unit trusts. Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner said the platform is designed to connect clients’ financial, health and lifestyle activity and turn the value they create into rewards.

The bank is also introducing portfolio points, with rewards linked to qualifying Discovery products and customer engagement. Portfolio status will work alongside Discovery Bank rewards, Vitality Money, Vitality Health and Vitality Drive.

Customers could qualify for benefits including 100% of the qualifying base fare on local and international flights and 45% off on Miles D-Day. Kallner said the rewards system is central to the bank’s strategy because positive behaviour in one part of a customer’s life can generate benefits elsewhere across the Discovery portfolio.

The Superbank will also use banking data to develop more personalised offerings. Discovery Bank already uses information about customers’ financial needs to tailor products, including offering lower entry points for some Discovery Life policies.

70% of new clients are outside Discovery

The strategy is gaining importance because Discovery Bank is attracting customers from outside the group’s existing ecosystem. About 70% of the bank’s new customers have no other Discovery products, according to Discovery’s latest financial results.

That means the bank is increasingly serving as the entry point into the wider group rather than simply selling additional products to existing Discovery customers.

Kallner said the Superbank reached this inflection point earlier than management expected as banking became Discovery’s primary growth engine.

The bank reported its first full-year profit of R370 million ($22.15 million) for the 2026 financial year, with management saying the pace of growth exceeded expectations. That performance underpins Discovery Bank’s longer-term target of R3 billion($179.62 million) in profit by 2029.

New Black Suite targets young professionals

Discovery Bank is also targeting younger customers with its Black Suite for Young Professionals, a new full-service banking proposition offering premium banking benefits and rewards at a price designed to attract customers early in their careers.

The strategy comes as South African banks compete aggressively for younger customers who can eventually become long-term users of mortgages, insurance and other financial services.

Discovery’s broader ambition is to make the bank the primary digital touchpoint for its South African customers while expanding the shared-value model across the group.

Kallner has stressed that the Superbank is not intended simply as a cross-selling mechanism. Instead, Discovery is using the bank as the platform through which customers can access and generate value across its wider financial, health and lifestyle ecosystem.