It seems that health insurance provider Discovery is making progress in its efforts to become a banking institution.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Chief Executive Officer Adrian Gore said that Discovery is putting the pieces and personnel in place since announcing its intention to move into banking last year

“We’re flat out with the infrastructure and the regulatory process for banking,” Gore said. “We’ve got the capital, we’ve hired bankers, we’re building substantial systems. We want to make an offering that’s relevant and can win market share.”

Gore said that the company will aim to offer financial services to a large client base, but this won’t happen anytime soon.

“We’re looking at the modern and traditional structures that people need,” he said. “We’ve got a good embedded base with Discovery Card. We’re comfortable that we’re heading in the right direction. It will take a year or two to get it into the market.”

Gore’s sentiments echoes a report on MoneyWeb earlier this year in which Discovery CFO Ricky Farber told the publication that the health insurance provider expected to have a banking licence within two years.

Late last month, Dr Craig Nossel, the boss of Vitality at Discovery, told us that Discovery has dished out 23 000 Apple Watches as part of its Vitality promotion, but Gore in the interview gave an updated number on that.

“We’ve distributed more than 30,000 Apple watches,” he said. According to Bloomberg, that equates to nine out of every ten Apple Watches in South Africa have been distributed through Discovery.

[Image – CC by 2.0/Jerry Meaden]