Discovery Bank today unveiled new offerings, including the integration of crypto-currencies into the digital bank’s mobile app.
Under a partnership with Luno, Discovery Bank will add crypto trading in over 50 crypto assets from December.
Hylton Kallner, CEO of Discovery Bank, says: “The financial world is evolving fast, and crypto assets have matured to become an accessible, mainstream asset class. Our clients – and South Africans more generally – are already engaged in this market, with one in 10 people holding crypto assets, and our regulation leading in the region and aligning with global norms.
“As a bank known for bringing the future of banking to its clients, we are thrilled to announce we are the first mobile bank to partner with Luno, a leading crypto platform that is used by over 15 million clients.
“We’re giving our clients the capability to easily invest in crypto assets and trade directly in the Discovery Bank app. We’ll also reward them with Vitality Money Savings points for crypto balances in their secure Luno wallets.
“It provides Discovery Bank clients with access to the full liquidity and breadth of crypto-asset options provided by Luno, in the convenience of their Discovery Bank app.”
Discovery Bank clients will be able to link their Luno accounts to buy, hold and sell crypto assets, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, through the bank’s app.
Clients will be able to track balances and transactions in real-time, transfer funds instantly with no fees, and trade in more than 50 crypto assets.
Beyond niche
James Lanigan, CEO of Luno, says: “We are extremely excited to partner with Discovery Bank to offer its clients the same robust safeguards to trade confidently alongside over 15 million Luno customers across Africa, Asia and Europe.
“This is a first-of-its-kind solution in Africa to integrate digital asset investing directly into a major mobile banking platform, and this partnership is a clear signal that crypto has moved from a niche to a mainstream investment choice for those looking to diversify their investment portfolio with digital assets.”
In a telephonic interview with ITWeb, Christo de Wit, country manager for Luno in South Africa, said for the broader crypto industry in South Africa, this is significant.
“There is a growing demand from South Africans for crypto-currency. We know that one in 10 South Africans has or holds crypto, so it is increasingly becoming an important investment vehicle for South Africans,” said De Wit.
In recent years, several major South African banks came under scrutiny for closing or restricting bank accounts linked to crypto-currency exchanges and service providers. In 2019, First National Bank discontinued services to exchanges, citing the absence of an appropriate regulatory framework and heightened risk concerns, before other banks followed suit.
These moves sparked widespread concern within the local crypto industry about “de-banking” and prompted the South African Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority to caution financial institutions against blanket account closures, urging them instead to adopt a risk-based approach that balances innovation with financial integrity and consumer protection.
In 2022, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) classified crypto assets as financial products, bringing exchanges and service providers under regulation. The FSCA began accepting applications in June 2023 and received hundreds from local and international players, such as Luno, VALR and Binance.
The licensing framework aims to enhance consumer protection, transparency and compliance with global standards like those of the Financial Action Task Force.
“Around 2019 to 2020, a lot of banks in South Africa unbanked crypto-currency exchanges. At that time, there was no clear crypto regulation, but crypto-currency is now fully regulated. We are a fully registered financial services provider and Discovery Bank is a reputable financial services institution.
“Because of regulation, this has signalled a positive change in the way that crypto assets are perceived not only by ordinary South Africans but by the regulators as well as the traditional financial institutions,” De Wit said.
“It has now become more acceptable for crypto assets to form part of a bigger investor strategy and the overall understanding of crypto assets has improved significantly over the last few years.
“The acceptability of crypto-currency as a mainstream financial instrument has also increased tremendously and I think this integration with Discovery Bank really signals that merger of traditional finance and digital finance.
“I think this is going to be quite momentous for us in driving further adoption and bringing crypto assets to more South Africans.”
In March, Discovery Bank introduced multi-layered security features for clients transacting through the app, online, or in-store. Using pattern data and real-time analysis, every transaction is individually risk-assessed by the bank’s new TRUST Alert system.
Kallner explains: “Our intelligent TRUST Alert system monitors potential fraud threats and identifies transactions that pose a risk, based on personal patterns, behaviours and other known financial safety threats. Every in-app and secure payment is analysed in real-time, with a prominent TRUST Alert warning being displayed to clients about transactions when needed.”
According to the digital bank, its app now serves as the main digital channel for all Discovery products.
Share