Queen Máxima chats to Discovery Bank about financial health

The UN’s Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Financial Health, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands met with Discovery Bank this week to discuss financial health, a youth literacy programme and research lab plans.

The queen met with Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner, and other guests, including myself, at the Discovery Store in Sea Point, Cape Town.

The conversation at the store covered its behavioural banking programme Vitality Money and how it “enables financial health through science-based behavioural nudges and a variety of financial and lifestyle rewards”.

Speaking at the Sea Point store, Kallner said: “Knowledge about healthy financial habits and managing money are crucial to achieve financial health and there is a vast gap in educating children and youth about these issues.”

The bank says while there has been progress in financial inclusion across Africa, there has been low increases in savings and an even lower take-up of insurance.

“In South Africa, specifically, financial literacy is considered low, and many find it difficult to confidently manage their day-to-day finances to make ends meet, build up savings for emergencies or save enough for retirement and other long-term goals like buying property, which have been identified by the UNSGSA as the fundamentals of achieving financial health”, it adds.

Discovery Bank invited me to share my journey with money and the impact of Vitality Money has on my finances. Apart from the tech and visual data that drew me to it, I shared how it took paying back my student loan from my first full time job to help me avoid getting into debt, which instilled a savings ethos in me, instead of purchasing on credit, and the importance of a tax-free savings account.

Kallner adds: “It was an honour for us to host UNSGSA Queen Máxima to show how as a fully digital bank, we apply our shared-value banking model and Vitality Money to encourage and reward positive behaviour change that support our clients’ financial health.”

“The shift in the UNSGSA Queen Máxima’s focus from financial inclusion to financial health, and how it is defined, is very much aligned with the premise of Vitality Money, with data and digital technology playing a fundamental role in these innovations. Discovery Bank has since inception seen an opportunity to improve the financial health of millions of South Africans and we increasingly observe the link between physical, mental and financial health,” says Kallner.

Queen Máxima emphasised that while South Africa has made notable strides in financial inclusion, the lack of financial health is weakening resilience and stalling inclusive growth.

The UNSGSA encouraged financial institutions to treat financial health as a core business goal – embedding it at Board level, using data to design better products, and measuring progress. It also emphasised that financial health is good for customers, good for the bottom line, and good for the nation.

The bank also announced it will launch a financial literacy programme for children and the youth, along with the establishment of a dedicated research lab in South Africa focused on advancing financial health.

The three-day trip to South Africa is the queen’s first visit since being appointed in her role last September, however, has been with the UN for more than 15 years and has a 20-year career in financial inclusion.

Her focus was on supporting the private sector, policymakers, and regulators to improve the financial health to all South Africans.

On Tuesday, 20 May, she visited two other companies that contribute to financial health, with discussions around stokvels and a fintech that links loans to a savings programme for low-risk investments.

A visit to Johannesburg on Wednesday, 21 May included a fireside chat at the G20 Responsible Finance Forum with Michael Schlein, CEO of Accion and a roundtable discussion hosted by Mastercard. She also spoke to Deloitte about how they can support the financial health of their employees.

On her last day, Thursday, 22 May, she will meet international financial development organisations and meet finance minister Enoch Godongwana.

In 2011 Queen Máxima visited South Africa to discuss financial inclusion on behalf of the UN. In 2021 she held an online meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa, at the time chairperson of the African Union, on financial inclusion for women on the African continent.