By: Dinesh Govender, CEO of Discovery Vitality

Discovery has released a paper on the value Discovery Vitality members get from Ðiscovery Miles, the currency used to give clients rewards for positive behaviours across the integrated Health, Drive and Money behaviour-change platforms.

Highlights from the research:

• In 2024 alone, Discovery Vitality members are expected to earn more than Ð10 billion with a redemption value of R1.0-R1.4 billion. The additional discounts when clients make purchases with Điscovery Miles, makes the rewards currency more valuable than cash.
• Members earn Ðiscovery Miles from millions of Healthy food items purchased, workouts, driving well, weekly exercise, drive and financial goals.
• Over a year, members redeem billions of Ðiscovery Miles on over 1 million coffees and smoothies, on over 100,000 donations to charity initiatives, and to fund over 1 million local and international flights.
• Discovery Bank opened its virtual doors through the Discovery Bank app in 2019 and, since January 2020, banking clients have earned more than Ð30 billion (Ð: Discovery Miles).

Dinesh Govender, CEO of Discovery Vitality, says, “The evolution of Vitality rewards, shifting from cash-back to rewarding members for healthy behaviours in Ðiscovery Miles, has given us the opportunity to fully leverage the power of our rewards ecosystems, Vitality partner network and Discovery Bank to supercharge the value derived.

“Members currently benefit from popular Vitality Travel savings, discounted spend at over 40 in-store and online retail partners, and unique savings on Miles D-Day (the 15th of every month). We are now introducing new deals in the Discovery app which can be redeemed every week on #RewardsWednesday with rewards for up to half the price, over those 24 hours. This will include special discounted voucher deals in the Vitality Mall in the Discovery app that members can enjoy each #RewardsWednesday,” he added.

Discovery’s shared-value approach shows that incentivising members for improving their health correlates directly with increased rewards. Unlike traditional rewards programmes, which focus mostly on product uptake and brand loyalty, Discovery incentivises positive behavioural changes that improve overall wellbeing.

Within each of the three Vitality programmes (Health, Drive and Money), members are given a status of Blue, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Diamond. Each status shows how well the members manage key behavioural risks related to their physical and financial health, as well as their driving habits. This structured status system not only tracks progress but also motivates members to sustain and improve healthy behaviours. The integrated design of the Vitality programmes leads to greater benefits, with members earning more Điscovery Miles when taking part in multiple behaviour-change initiatives.

Hylton Kallner, CEO of Discovery SA and Discovery Bank, says, “Ðiscovery Miles is one way we drive engagement in and reward our clients for these positive decisions. This is why the integration of Discovery Bank with the behaviour-change platforms, makes it possible for clients to earn even more Ðiscovery Miles for multiple behaviour-change initiatives. As a Bank, we can create meaningful engagements linked to the rewards currency that gives our clients the ability to get more value than they would with cash.”

Read the Ðiscovery Miles paper for case studies on how they are more valuable than cash.