Discovery Bank’s new CEO, Hylton Kallner, speaks to BizNews founder Alec Hogg about changes at the helm – and what they mean for stakeholders. South Africa’s biggest health insurer Discovery said on Thursday Barry Hore would step down as chief executive officer of Discovery Bank and would be replaced by the head of its local business, Hylton Kallner, from January 1, 2021. “Over the past five years, Hore has led the building of the digital bank from the ground up, culminating in a public launch in 2019 and a migration of all Discovery card accounts from FirstRand to Discovery Bank,” it said in a statement. Hore is stepping back following a period of health issues.
*This episode of Inside Investing is proudly brought to you by Bright Light Solar, investing your S12J tax allowance to deliver renewable energy to South Africa.
Hylton Kallner on his background:
I had a bursary from a large insurance company, as a young actuarial student. Part of my bursary was vacation work, over the November/December holiday period. My first vac work was done for some of the founding team at Discovery. Soon after I started working, I had the opportunity to join them. There really wasn’t much there, but I joined the people, the vision and the purpose. It was really a fortunate chain of events. It has enabled me to be a part of the organisation, the growth and the story ever since. I’ve really been fortunate. 24 years now – which is more than half my life – at Discovery. But it really has been a fantastic journey.
On Discovery Bank:
The bank has been a phenomenal success to date. It’s concluded the build phase and migration of all the Discovery card base. As you say, the foundations have now been built. The systems, the platforms, the core banking chassis. We are now preparing for what we see as an opportunity to really grow the bank, off of this platform.
On the direction of Discovery bank:
I think the value of prudence and the approach taken by the bank is definitely not going to change. Our bank has been built cautiously – particularly in the current environment – in terms of the way that the teams manage credit. And in fact, the quality of the book is significantly better, on average, than the rest of the market. That is something that we are going to remain true to.
On Barry Hore, former Discovery Bank CEO:
Barry has done an unbelievable job in building the bank and overseeing the migration of the book from FNB. Over the last five years, he has really delivered a phenomenal product, platform and systems – which I don’t think anybody else could have. He’s going to take a break now – some time out. He’s going to rest and recover from an incredibly intense period that he’s had, in terms of building up the bank.
On how much has been invested in Discovery Bank:
I think the investment into the bank was just over half of our total investment in the start ups over the last year. That was over a billion rand in the period. The bank is being developed and built within budget to date. It’s been meticulously rolled out. So from an overall economic perspective, we’re very comfortable. We’ve also indicated that we saw last year, probably as the sort of half point in terms of the investment, into the bank. We expect it to now start to really sort of turn. That’s the trajectory that we expect going forward.
On the responsibility as Discovery Bank CEO:
The excitement of the opportunity is really what I’m feeling. When you look at the team and look at the quality of what’s being built there – and the excellence – you actually quickly realise that it really is a fantastic opportunity. So I’m filled with excitement and the optimism of really building something that has impact, purpose and really makes a difference in our clients lives.
This episode of Inside Investing is proudly brought to you by Bright Light Solar, investing your S12J tax allowance to deliver renewable energy to South Africa.
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