A thread about something Discovery Bank doesn’t tell you (easily) about its model: it works better for them than it does for you. An example: to level-up on Vitality Money, you must have the “right” insurance and retirement products. Guess who offers just those products… 1/a few

You must also manage your money “smartly” by saving it… with Discovery Bank (DB) and having investment products… which DB offers. The more money clients entrust to DB, the more money DB can loan to other clients. The more DB and Discovery products you have… 2/a few more

…the higher your Vitality Money status. Sounds good, right? Save your money, buy the right products, imagine all the “free” coffee and smoothies you’ll earn! Except, they’re not free because you paid for them by paying for more and more DB and Discovery products… 3/some

…in the elusive hunt for that mystical Diamond Status. That status doesn’t tell me that you manage your money well, it tells me that you’ve fallen for DB and Discovery in general in exactly the way they want you to: give us all your money and pay us… 4/almost there

…to tell you how well you’ve done by giving us your money and paying for all of our products. It tells me that they’ve roped you in so far that you’ve become a cash cow. It tells me that you fell for this: “Ooh, you need some retirement annuities and insurance… 5/end-is-nigh

…so that you can earn more rewards. But don’t you worry, we have just the products for you!” Doesn’t that sound a bit too… dodgy-white-van-with-“FREE CANDY”-on-the-side? Let’s get one thing straight: DB and Discovery are not caring for you, they’re not trying to help… 6/nearly

…you to live long and prosper. They’re trying to make as much profit out of you as they can. I’m all for capitalism but luring people in under the guise of “we’re here to help!” has never sat well with me. I’m certainly not saying that DB and Discovery are the… 7/keep going

…Mr Burns or Globodyne of entities, but we’ve got to interrogate the motives behind “free” coffee and “rewards” because they’re never really free. Too good to be true? Smells like it to me. Don’t see DB and Discovery as saviours. They aren’t.

8/8. Finally.

PS. Don’t forget that Vitality Money is also a product you pay for.