Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      MultiChoice is working on a wholesale overhaul of DStv

      10 July 2025

      Spam call epidemic: operators say their hands are tied

      10 July 2025

      Britehouse unit breaks free from NTT Data

      10 July 2025

      Samsung’s bet on folding phones faces major test

      10 July 2025

      OpenAI to launch web browser in direct challenge to Google Chrome

      10 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on data governance in hybrid cloud environments

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » News » Discovery, Apple partner on Watch

    Discovery, Apple partner on Watch

    By Hanna Barry10 September 2015
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Apple Watch
    Apple Watch

    Insurance group Discovery plans to launch a full-scale retail bank out of its credit card, CEO Adrian Gore said on Thursday.

    Discovery plans to use around R1,3bn of the R5bn it raised in a recent rights offer to increase its stake in DiscoveryCard, a joint venture with the FirstRand Group, to 74,99%.

    It will spend an additional R800m to R1bn on the development of the bank, Gore said.

    He said that Discovery was still in the process of applying for a banking licence and is attracting a team to drive the project. Gore would not be drawn on a launch date but said the bank was a “multi-year project” and will not be launched for a number of years. He said its focus would be retail customers and small businesses.

    “We’re obsessed with being the best globally,” Gore, speaking at the group’s results for the year to June, said.

    For the year under review, Discovery grew normalised headline earnings 16% to R3,5bn, with operating profit growing 17% to R5,8bn, as its home market continued to grow revenue and market share, particularly in the health and life insurance sectors.

    New business grew 15% on a normalised basis. When including the award of the Bankmed Medical Scheme, new business grew 51% to R17,5bn.

    Meanwhile, Gore announced that Discovery’s Vitality Group is partnering with Apple Watch to bring the group’s global customer base Vitality “active rewards”. This will be launched in South Africa later this month and be rolled out to all Vitality markets later.

    “Essentially, what we’ve done is use the Apple Watch as a centrepiece in active rewards. So people wearing these watches have the ability to track their activity and be rewarded through the process,” Gore said. “The financial structure and how it links to insurance will be quite unique. The benefit to our customers will be tremendous, they’ll have access to the watch, they’ll have access to active rewards.”

    As a Vitality product, the initiative will involve a group of “core partners worldwide with the potential to make millions of people healthier”, Gore said.

    Discovery has effectively franchised its Vitality business model, partnering with insurance companies in countries such as China and the US where it does not want to be a primary insurer.

    Adrian-Gore-640
    Adrian Gore

    In the US, the Vitality Group grew adult members by 33% to 774 518 in the period under review. These members represent corporates that have adopted the Vitality product offering. “This indicates a growing realisation in the market that Vitality is changing the conversation to focus on healthy living,” Discovery said in its results announcement.

    In April, Vitality announced its partnership with one the US’s largest life insurers, John Hancock Insurance, which now offers its members the healthy living programme. Gore said that Vitality business from John Hancock was still small but that the insurer sold fewer, high-value life insurance policies.

    The partnership garnered significant media attention in the US across significant print and television outlets, dubbed as “a whole new approach to life insurance in the US” and a game changer for the American life insurance industry.

    Gore reiterated that Discovery’s core purpose is to make people healthier and enhance their lives via its shared value model: this incentivises healthier behaviour on the part of members, so boosting Discovery’s profits due to lower claims rates, better mortality and lower lapse rates, which profits are then passed back to members in the form of rewards and lower premiums.

    The group declared a dividend of 89c/share, up by 14% on the previous year.

    • This article was first published on Moneyweb and is republished here with permission


    Adrian Gore Discovery Discovery Vitality John Hancock Vitality
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleApple, religion and the iPhone 6s
    Next Article MTN to zero-rate FrontRow data usage

    Related Posts

    Discovery Bank systems restored after outage

    28 May 2025

    Standard Bank joins forces with Checkers Sixty60

    16 April 2025

    Discovery Bank launches panic code to combat banking app kidnappings

    27 March 2025
    Company News

    AI in project management: a new era of efficiency and transformation

    10 July 2025

    Samsung unfolds the future with thinnest, lightest Galaxy Z Fold yet

    9 July 2025

    Huawei supercharges South African SMEs with over 20 new eKit products

    9 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.