Press release -
SpendTrend Festive Season: Discovery Bank clients made nearly 400 trips to the moon and back
Johannesburg, 29 January 2026 – Discovery Bank, today, released its SpendTrend Festive Season edition. The analysis highlights travel and selected spending behaviours among Discovery Bank clients over December 2025 and early January 2026.
Hylton Kallner, CEO of Discovery Bank, says, “December remains the peak spending season and the SpendTrend Festive Season edition shows our clients, like other South Africans, spent more than in other months. As the rand strengthened and fuel prices stabilised, local and international flight prices on popular routes were, on average, up to 20% lower than the same period last year. This meant more people enjoyed getaways and our clients received meaningful, added savings when they combined the lower fares with their Vitality Travel rewards. SpendTrend Festive Season edition shows Discovery Bank clients welcomed in the New Year from 128 countries around the world.”
Travel: Discovery Bank clients went global
Discovery Bank clients who made bookings through Vitality Travel:
- Were on more than 19,000 flights and filled over 150,000 seats – equivalent to 850 planes.
- Flew more than 300 million kilometres between 10 December 2025 and 7 January 2026 – equivalent to 7,500 trips around the world.
- Made most domestic trips between Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, with international travel to popular destinations including the UAE, Australia, the UK, the USA and Mauritius.
Festive spend: Holiday treats with responsible choices
“Our clients spent an average of 20% more over the festive season compared with other months, and 5% more than in December 2024. We’ve quantified how much more our clients love ice cream during the holidays and observed that they’re making sensible choices as indicated with higher spending on metered taxi and ride-hailing services. And, as the calendar pages over to January, alcohol spend eases off and stationery spend rises sharply, reflecting back-to-school preparations and getting back to everyday life,” says Kallner.
Discovery Bank clients spent:
- 20% more over the festive season compared with other months, and 5% more than in December 2024.
- 37% more at major ice cream stores compared with the rest of the year.
- 23% more on metered taxi and ride-hailing services than in the rest of the year.
- In January, spend on alcohol decreases and stationery purchases rise sharply. View the SpendTrend Festive Season Edition here.
“Our SpendTrend reports, including an annual SpendTrend edition and a Black Friday edition, all help to understand consumers better and to inform actions towards providing services that reflect shifts in financial behaviour. The use of Vitality Travel through Discovery Bank indicates the value our clients derive from their rewards. The greater access to travel has enabled them to make the equivalent of nearly 400 trips to the moon and back over the main holiday period,” says Kallner.
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About Discovery Bank
Discovery Bank is part of Discovery Limited, a financial services organisation that operates in healthcare, life assurance, short-term insurance, investments, banking, and wellness industries, in over 40 markets globally. Built on a shared-value model, Discovery Bank is fundamentally designed to create unique shared value for clients, differentiating the Bank from traditional banking models. Clients are encouraged to manage their money well, monetising healthy financial behaviours that lower their financial risk and realises long-term default and risk savings for the Bank. Discovery Bank shares this value with clients in the form of better interest rates, deep discounts and significant rewards from an exclusive retail, lifestyle and wellness partner network. The model has an overall positive impact on clients, society and Discovery Bank - clients experience greater financial wellbeing, the risk of defaults for Discovery Bank is lowered making the business more sustainable; while improved financial behaviours such as increased savings, higher retirement savings and lower debt levels, benefit society as a whole. Behaviour change and rewards are enabled through Vitality Money, an AI-powered programme on the Discovery Bank app that gives clients an understanding of the behaviours that influence their financial wellbeing, while giving them the tools to improve their financial behaviours. The more clients improve their financial behaviour, the higher their Vitality Money status and the greater the value they receive.
