Discovery has been granted a banking licence by the Registrar of Banks, which forms part of the SA Reserve Bank, according to a Fin24 report.
In October 2016 the Registrar of Banks gave the JSE-listed company the authorisation to establish a banking presence in South Africa.
“The grant of the banking licence is subject to specific regulatory conditions, including conditions relating to the proposed shareholding in the bank and Competition Commission approval,” Discovery said in a statement.
“In addition, certain other regulatory approvals are still required to complete the transactions proposed.
“Discovery awaits the Competition Commission’s final response and is in the process of assessing the implications of the conditions.”
Discovery CEO Adrian Gore in September said that the banking unit is on track to be up and running by the middle of 2018.
Last month TymeDigital by Commonwealth Bank became the first new bank to receive an operating licence from the South African Reserve Bank since 1999.
Dominique Collett, head of Alphacode, a hub for fintech startups said in an interview with SME South Africa that the granting of the licence to TymeDigital showed there was a willingness on the part of the banking regulator to open the sector to competition, “More competition is always good for consumers,” she said.
