Smart Money – Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner

In this Smart Money with Alishia Seckam interview, Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner discusses the importance of reaching one million clients.

Kallner holds a Bachelor of Economic Science, Actuarial Science, and Econometrics from the University of Witwatersrand.

After graduating, he joined Discovery in 1996 as a key player in various marketing, actuarial, and strategic projects – and he never left.

He has been part of the Discovery ecosystem for over 27 years, climbing the ranks and building extensive experience along the way.

In 2006, Kallner became Discovery’s chief marketing officer, a position he held for nine years. He was then appointed as the Discovery Life CEO in 2016 and the Discovery South Africa CEO in 2020.

Just before, in 2019, Discovery entered the banking sector with Discovery Bank, and Kallner took the reins as the new venture’s CEO in 2021.

As Discovery Bank CEO, Kallner has leveraged his extensive experience with and understanding of Discovery’s shared-value business model to drive growth at the Bank.

Kallner is a Fellow of the Actuarial Society of South Africa (FASSA) and a Fellow of the Faculty of Actuaries (FFA).

He is also a trustee of the Discovery Fund, an active contributor to many social causes, and has served on education-focused community NPO boards for over a decade.

The interview

In this Smart Money interview, Kallner discusses Discovery Bank’s impressive growth, which has surpassed one million clients.  

He reveals when he believes the bank will become profitable before outlining the new offerings it has launched over the last year.

Kallner then discusses how Discovery Bank’s shared-value model provides better experiences for clients – noting how well Vitality Travel is performing.

He also unpacks how the Bank is progressing towards its goal of democratising private banking services and the significance of the Ask Afrika Orange Index survey that found Discovery Bank was the clear favourite among respondents.

Kallner concludes the interview by outlining the bank’s goals for 2025.

Watch the interview with Hylton Kallner below.