Discovery Bank has announced the launch of a platform that enables secure payments between Discovery contacts with just a cellphone number, regardless of where they are banked, called Discovery Pay.
Read: Chipper Cash launches in South Africa
According to Hylton Kallner, Discovery Bank CEO, the market for mobile payments has evolved rapidly and is always changing.
“Clients will be able to make health payments through the Discovery Bank app to all hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories and approximately 6,500 General Practitioners by linking their Discovery Bank card to their Discovery Health Medical Scheme membership,” Kallner said.
He also added that any possible future co-payments would be automatically settled without submitting claims or additional paperwork. Discovery Miles will also be awarded for the healthcare payments at the same rate as on normal credit card transactions.
Discovery Pay will also be closely integrated with Vitality and benefits attached to that programme. From early 2022, Discovery Pay will include a ‘Pay as you Gym’ benefit. This will give users free visits to the 150 Virgin Active or Planet Fitness facilities in South Africa.
“Once activated, clients will receive three visits free at the gym partner of their choice,” says Vitality CEO Dinesh Govender. “These gym visits will be automatically logged for Vitality points and will count towards clients’ Vitality Active Rewards exercise goals.” Govender added that clients who use Discovery Pay will pay R75 at a ‘basic’ gym facility and R100 at a flagship facility.
Discovery Bank has also announced some other new features, including:
- Discovery Bank Multicurrency FX Account
- Access to share trading and investments with EasyEquities on the Discovery Bank app
- Discovery Bank travel platform
Do you use a mobile payments platform? If so, which ones have worked the best for you thus far? Would you be interested in Discovery Pay? Let us know in the comments below.
