Adrian Gore announced plans to launch the 'superbank' Discovery in October. This new phase, which he termed the second phase for the digital lender, is intended to serve as the connecting link for the entire group and will be based on artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
The bank reported a net profit of 370 million Rands for the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, a significant improvement compared to the loss of 68 million Rands the previous year, showing an increase of 438 million Rands. The customer base grew by 26%, reaching 1.57 million people, and revenue increased by 31% to 3.1 billion Rands. Retail deposits rose by 17% to 27.2 billion Rands, and loan issuance increased by 40% to 12.9 billion Rands, supported by growth in housing loans. Meanwhile, the loan loss ratio improved to 2.71%.
Gore directly linked this positive shift to the use of technology, noting that the application of AI has been 'colossal.' He stated that customer service is now primarily handled by AI and in-app channels, which is progress compared to when all calls were voice-processed in January 2025. This allowed Discovery to expand its customer base while maintaining a stable call volume.
Starting in October, the bank transitions to the 'second phase,' transforming from a standalone offering into what results are calling an 'orchestrating layer for customers' financial and medical lives.' Gore described this superbank not as a transactional tool, but as an 'integrative management layer for the client's entire economic life.'
In practice, three elements are integrated into the banking application: access to ecosystems covering fitness, travel, fuel, and groceries; the bank's payment and anti-fraud systems, which support every Discovery product regardless of whether the client uses the group's services; and a larger, unified Vitality rewards system common across all businesses.
The main goal of this approach is cross-selling. Gore noted that nearly 70% of new banking clients do not have other Discovery products, while millions of existing Discovery participants have not yet used the group's banking services.
Vitality AI Deployment
Management aims to attract two million banking customers and achieve an operating profit of 3 billion Rands before accounting for new business acquisition costs by the 2029 fiscal year, surpassing the current year's figure of 865 million Rands. The bank also ranked first in the Ask Africa Orange Index for the banking sector and previously held leading positions in consumer ratings.
Another aspect of the strategy involves Vitality AI, developed in collaboration with Google. Gore is implementing this system incrementally across markets: it launched in London late last year and is planned for New York within two weeks, with the number of partners growing. This initiative cost the group normalized losses of 299 million Rands, more than triple the 89 million Rands recorded the previous year, as 'investment costs in Vitality AI accelerated throughout the year.' (Discovery clarifies that this amount also includes other central Vitality expenses, so it is not a pure measure of AI costs).
At the group level, normalized operating profit increased by 17% to 17.75 billion Rands. Discovery increased its annual dividend by 33%, bringing it to 384 cents per share, while lowering the dividend coverage from five times to 4.5. The attractive 38% growth in earnings per share, up to 1,936.7 cents, was driven by two one-off receipts: income of 1.46 billion Rands from the early termination of the Discovery Place 1 headquarters lease, and a partial sale of a stake in the American telematics firm Cambridge Mobile Telematics. If these one-off receipts are excluded, the normalized net profit per share, which Discovery monitors most closely, grew by a solid 20% to 1,757.6 cents.
Gore justified the entire strategy in light of a global problem. He argued that an aging population, a shrinking base of working-age taxpayers, and medical costs that consistently outpace inflation will make healthcare inaccessible to most countries within one generation. Discovery forecasts that the burden on healthcare per taxpayer will increase by 13–25% by 2030 and could reach 49% or 98% by 2040.
Discovery notes that people over 65 consume approximately 3.4 times more medical services than those under 65. Gore asserted that technology is currently only exacerbating this pressure, not alleviating it. He stated: 'In healthcare, unlike other industries, technology does not reduce costs. We have never seen efficiency in healthcare. This may change thanks to AI.'
'One of the few ways to influence this is to make people healthier,' said Gore, arguing that the most powerful lever is reducing the period people spend ill, rather than simply extending lifespan. Since health and life insurance companies perform better when 'clients are healthier,' he emphasized that data-rich and AI-hyperpersonalized behavioral insurance is one of the few sufficiently strong forces capable of changing this trend. And this is precisely the direction where Discovery's efforts are focused.