In South Africa, where a large and sophisticated financial sector offers a variety of products for formal sector workers, only 16% of South Africans are considered financially healthy. Inflation and rising costs of living are making it difficult for adults in South Africa to manage day-to-day expenses, build emergency savings, and plan for retirement.
Discovery Bank sees a path to better financial health: behavior change. A full-service, retail digital bank publicly launched in 2019 and serves around 1.2 million customers as of May 2025. Discovery Bank puts financial health and behavioral science at the center of its business strategy. Discovery Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Discovery Limited, a South African financial services company that is now active in 42 markets. Vitality is Discovery’s flagship behavior-change program, first launched in 1997. It encourages people to make healthier choices a habit in three areas of life: Vitality Money (financial health), Vitality Health (physical health), and Vitality Drive (safe driving).
Vitality Money is a program designed to encourage behavior change for better financial health, and is delivered through the Discovery Bank app. It uses behavioral economics, gamification, and incentives to encourage customers to adopt and sustain healthy financial habits. Customers are awarded points when they make positive financial decisions about savings, debt management, insurance coverage, retirement planning, property ownership or financial planning. These points contribute to their Vitality Money status, a proxy measurement of their financial health.
To encourage positive behaviors, Discovery has developed a rewards ecosystem in partnership with leading brands in South Africa where customers can earn discounts on their spending based on their Vitality Money status. Financially healthy customers also benefit from preferential interest rates—earning up to 1.5% in additional interest on the bank’s savings products and receiving up to 7% lower interest rates on unsecured lending products based on their Vitality Money status (as of January 2025).
Jonathan and Latoya are Vitality Money customers. A married couple, who grew up in an impoverished township, they currently reside in a suburban neighborhood with their four children. They spent 20 years living paycheck to paycheck and accumulated significant debt. This forced the family to make difficult choices, including taking their kids out of traditional school to home school them, and selling their family car to cover basic expenses. In 2024, when they considered buying a home but realized they could not qualify for a home loan due to poor credit, Jonathan and Latoya decided to take active steps to regain control of their finances. They enrolled in a financial education program for financially healthy couples on the Discovery Bank app. Offered by fintech Worth, the course introduced them to budgeting, saving and financial planning, which helped them track expenses, manage debt, and set clear priorities. Today, Jonathan and Latoya are working toward three major goals: owning a home, being debt free, and being financially independent. Vitality Money allowed them to take control of their finances, moving away from a “spray and pray” approach to managing an overwhelming set of expenses without a clear sense of direction.
Nafisa is another Vitality Money user. A millennial and self-employed technology journalist, she brings a digital-first mindset to her finances. She was drawn to Discovery Bank’s app for its convenience and gamified approach, motivating her to accumulate points, reach new status levels, and change her financial habits for the better. Now, she plans her purchases to maximise her Vitality discounts. One of the features she values most is the ability to set and track specific savings goals. Nafisa is motivated to reduce her retirement age by increasing her medium- and long-term savings. She emphasizes that Vitality Money has not only improved her financial decision-making but has also improved her mental and physical health.
Impact data reveals that individuals with a higher Vitality Money status consistently achieve better financial outcomes, regardless of income level. Customers who reached Diamond Vitality Money status (the highest status level) are 97% less likely to be in arrears and have 11 times more deposits than customers on a lower Vitality Money status (Blue status). Discovery Bank is at the forefront of leveraging behavioral science, digital technology, and user-centered design to make financial health central to its services—improving customer outcomes while supporting business growth.
During her visit to South Africa, UNSGSA Queen Máxima highlighted the opportunity for private-sector leaders to build on the success of Vitality Money by applying behavioral science and customer-centric design to promote financial health—particularly for middle- and lower-income consumers and entrepreneurs operating in the informal sector.