Insurance group Discovery has received\u00a0authorisation from the Registrar of Banks to establish a banking presence in South Africa.<\/p>\n
The group said it now has 12 months to fulfil certain conditions\u00a0set out by the registrar, and obtain its final approval in terms of Section 17 of the Banks Act.<\/p>\n
Discovery announced in late 2015 that it planned to establish an ‘innovative full-service retail bank\u2019, after acquiring control of its credit-card unit from FirstRand, with CEO and co-founder Adrian Gore noting that the project may take a few years.<\/p>\n
Discovery CEO Adrian Gore said the\u00a0group has had tremendous success with its joint venture with FNB on the DiscoveryCard \u2013 Discovery\u2019s credit card, which has more than 250,000 customers.<\/p>\n
This success gave the group the impetus to investigate building a full service retail bank, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re flat out with the infrastructure and the regulatory process for banking,\u201d Gore said in an interview with Bloomberg<\/a> in August. \u201cWe\u2019ve got the capital, we\u2019ve hired bankers, we\u2019re building substantial systems. We want to make an offering that\u2019s relevant and can win market share.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking at the modern and traditional structures that people need,\u201d Gore told Bloomberg. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a good embedded base with Discovery Card. We\u2019re comfortable that we\u2019re heading in the right direction. It will take a year or two to get it into the market.\u201d<\/p>\n Discovery launched as a private health insurer in 1992 and has since expanded into investments, credit cards, life insurance and property and casualty cover.<\/p>\n More details emerge on Discovery bank launch<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on Discovery<\/h3>\n