Discovery Bank – Changing the way South Africans do foreign exchange

By Chadd

Whats all the fuss you may ask…

It has been reported that in less than 60 seconds, Discovery Bank clients can effortlessly add a foreign currency account to their banking profile and convert funds to the desired currency at spot prices in real-time. Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner was quoted as saying, “technology has continually made it easier for people to navigate every aspect of financial services”, also stating that, “one such aspect is the ability to have accounts for foreign currency trading, parents and saving, all of which are valued services globally”, as such, Discovery Bank has considered the needs of banking clients in this regard and developed this unique offering of a new-generation forex account.

A publication cites seven elements that make the new-generation forex account a tough act to follow:

1. Easy access and account migration in seconds for existing clients.

2. Effortless integration in the platform with full view of all accounts.

3. Industry leading real-time rates 24/7.

4. Instant conversion of funds in Rand and the desired foreign currency.

5. Full management control.

6. Competitive fees.

7. Virtual card options with instant transactional functionality.

Existing Discovery Bank clients need not forward and additional documents, the only prerequisite for existing clients is that they have the latest version of the banking app installed, next step is to add their desired currency, in the form of USD, GBP or Euro within the app and enjoy immediate transactional capabilities across their desired foreign currency. The biggest sigh of relief for South African traders is that this functionality includes both making and receiving international payments in over 60 countries world wide.

As traders we generally trade on a 24/5 basis, but with the new-generation offering clients can enjoy 24/7 operation and support and will not incurred any additional costs on conversion fees nor for transactions between their foreign currency and Rand accounts, another feature I know traders will like is that all transactions will be processed with immediate settlement and is not dependent on a business day nor market trading times.

Yet another great feature is that there is no minimum balance, this will ensure that the product is suitable for every level of client, clients with 100USD can enjoy the same level of diversity as a client with 100 000USD with transparent and flexible costs, and make it easier for clients to save and transact in foreign currency. As previously mentioned, virtual cards are also and option, to take it up a notch, Discovery Bank platform offers the ability to add multicurrency virtual cards as well as the option to ores a physical card when traveling abroad, simplistic sophistication at its best.

Final mention.

It goes without saying, this new-generation forex offering definitely places Discovery Bank on the front foot, allowing clients manage their foreign and local currency accounts side-by-side adds to the convenience and ease of use that many clients and even forex traders can enjoy, as always, I would advise South African clients and Forex traders alike to do their own due diligence and determine if this product will in fact make life a lot easier.