Hylton Kallner is appointed as CEO of Discovery Bank

Hylton Kallner has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Bank, with effect from 1 January 2021. He takes over from Barry Hore, who oversaw the Bank’s build and migration phase, which has now been completed.

During Hore’s tenure several important milestones were achieved, including the build of the Bank‘s powerful digital banking capability based on the Shared-Value model, the creation of world-class banking products and the successful migration of all Discovery Card accounts from First National Bank (FNB) to Discovery Bank.

The Bank has also seen its first full year of operations, with all user journeys maturing and strong growth to over 500 000 accounts and R5 billion in retail deposits. It continues to innovate at a rapid pace, with the latest rewards and digital enhancements being positively received. Building on this momentum and supported by the Bank team, Kallner is taking Discovery Bank forward as it accelerates this growth and increases its focus on integration.

Commenting on Kallner’s appointment, Discovery Chief Executive Adrian Gore said: “Kallner will leverage his experience as CEO of the SA businesses in building a powerful and integrated composite. His understanding of Discovery’s Shared-Value business model, along with his extensive experience at Discovery Group spanning nearly 25 years, position him well to drive continued growth and success for Discovery Bank. His experience in the conceptualisation and operation of the original Discovery Card and more recently overseeing the provision of core Group services to Discovery Bank, add to the competencies gained in his decade as the group’s Chief Marketing Officer.”

Kallner will step down from various subsidiary board roles but will retain his role as chair of the Discovery South Africa Exco as the key co-ordination structure across the South African business units. This will enable him to leverage assets across the Group as the Bank focuses on driving strong, high-quality customer growth and value.

Gore thanked Hore for his invaluable contribution. “Over the past five years, Hore has led the build of the Bank from the ground up, culminating in the public launch and completion of the migration of the Discovery Card portfolio from FNB. His unique combination of deep banking and technology experience has been instrumental in establishing a strong operational capability and cutting-edge digital customer proposition, attracting a high-quality customer base and robust retail deposit franchise.”

He added: “Hore leaves having established a strong and experienced leadership team, supported by deep specialists across multiple disciplines, with significant banking experience. We are hugely thankful to Hore for all he has done and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

Reflecting on his time as CEO of Discovery Bank, Hore said he felt privileged to have had the opportunity to join the Discovery team in creating and building Discovery Bank. “I would like to thank the incredible team that has supported me in this journey and feel confident that I am able to leave at this point, having built the strong foundations of a uniquely disruptive banking capability. I am truly proud of what has been achieved as the Bank announces key milestones of attracting more than R5 billion retail deposits, becoming the country’s fastest growing bank in terms of deposits¹ and seeing a solid trajectory in credit utilisation, now with over 531 000 accounts held by 295 000 clients.”

¹South African Reserve Bank BA900