Tech in Africa
In a trading statement covering the time period ended December 2020, Discovery Bank has grown its weekly average banking customers by 287,000, to a cumulative total of 540,000 accounts created thus far.
Retail deposits hit 5.7 billion Rand by the end of December. The bank made steady advances of 3.8 billion Rand reflecting its conservative yet strategic approach. Overall, the stats show a 69% lower rate of arrears compared to the market average – indicating a solid financial position. The group touted the successful completion of its account migration process where clients moved from its FNB discovery card to its banking platform – around 53% made the switch.
Wins
Among the wins pointed out by the group are a 19% increase in normalized operating profit, a rise in the total new business by 8%, and solid IT systems with an uptime of 99.9%.
Losses
Some of the losses were a 10% drop in actual profit amounting to R 1.9 billion. The Group’sgross income rose 9% to R34.9 billion. The net earnings per share dropped by 10%. Investments in new initiatives made up 22% of the profits. During its first review period, the bank posted R 611 million loss, compared to R 530 million lost in the previous period.
Digital Banks
Discovery Bank, owned by South Africa’s largest health insurer, launched in March 2019 earning the description as the “world’s first behavioral bank” – a fully digital bank accessible by any smartphone user. The new disruptive banking provider is shaking up the country’s banking scene as it offers modern banking technology and charges lesser fees. Its two main market competitors are Tyme Bank and Bank Zero.
We earlier covered TymeBank landing a record investment as it mulls further expansion into Asia.
Original source article at The Bharat Express news
