Discovery Bank introduces Apple Pay service for contactless payments

South Africans take 29 years to change bank accounts, but they're starting to embrace change - Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner

Discovery Bank has released a special report which shows South Africans take up to 29 years to change their bank accounts.

That’s roughly 70% longer than the British it says, and double the time that Americans take.

But, the banking space is heating up as the Covid pandemic moves clients towards embracing new technology and change.

The findings speak to the historical structure of banks in South Africa. says Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner.

For decades, really, there hasn't been much change in the environment. That sort of inertia is reflected in those statistics.

Hylton Kallner, CEO - Discovery Bank

For many people, the admin hassle of changing banks was substantial - you had to go into a branch and open a new account... With Covid we've seen that in fact the future is probably branchless and digital, and 24/7.

Hylton Kallner, CEO - Discovery Bank

We're seeing clients becoming far more discerning and that statistic change... We're seeing it evolve in line with global trends as people shop around for banking as they would for other financial services.

Hylton Kallner, CEO - Discovery Bank

This means that South Africans are also starting to "multi-bank".

In many cases clients are switching in their entirety... and using our services as a primary banking facility... the full suite option... We also have clients that just use a credit card or a savings account or fixed deposit...

Hylton Kallner, CEO - Discovery Bank

Kallner also discusses Discovery Bank's introduction of the digital mobile payment platform, Apple Pay.

Some Absa and Nedbank customers have also been reporting the availability of the platform this week, according to the MyBroadband forum.

Kallner says thousands of Discovery Bank clients have already been activated on the system over the last 48 hours.

It's really consistent with our approach as a digital leader in the banking space and the payment space.

Hylton Kallner, CEO - Discovery Bank

What Apple Pay really enables our customers to do is to use their compatible Apple devices, whether it's an iPhone or an Apple watch, to make contactless payments.

Hylton Kallner, CEO - Discovery Bank

They're entirely secure... It doesn't require any input of a pin code and it also doesn't require you to hand over the physical card... You will still get all your Discovery rewards...

Hylton Kallner, CEO - Discovery Bank

I think South Africans have been waiting for this for a long time.

Hylton Kallner, CEO - Discovery Bank

Kallner says they'd like to see Discovery Bank taking on 500 new clients a day by the end of the year.

Hear more on the the future of banking (Apple Pay discussion at 3:10) and the appointment of a new Discovery Bank chair:

This article first appeared on CapeTalk : Discovery Bank introduces Apple Pay service for contactless payments

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