Comparison

Discovery vs Bankmed Balance

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Discovery

Manage all your Discovery products in one place. Access health benefits, track fitness goals, view financial information, and submit claims. It's your central hub for all Discovery services.

Highlights
  • Access membership card
  • Find healthcare professionals
  • Submit and track claims
  • View Vitality points and status
  • Track fitness goals
  • View transactions and balances
  • Request emergency assistance
Features
Read full description

Access and experience all your Discovery products wherever you are.

 Application features:

 Discovery Health: Access your membership card, find a healthcare professional, submit and track your claims, get your tax certificate and more. Discovery Vitality: See your Vitality points and status, track your Vitality Active Rewards goal and more. Discovery Card: 
View your transactions and balances, spend your Discovery Miles in store and more. Discovery Insure:
 Request emergency assistance, submit a claim, track your Vitalitydrive points and Active Rewards and more. Discovery Life:
 View your policy information including financial adviser details. Discovery Invest:
 View your portfolio (including fund balances) and request to have a document emailed to you. Members on the following medical schemes will also have access to their scheme information: MMED, Naspers, LA Health, Tsogo, TFG, Quantum, Anglovaal, Retail Medical Scheme, UKZN, BMW, Malcor, Wits
 & SAB
. User notes:
 The application is available for anyone to download, but you have to be a Discovery member with at least one active Discovery product and must register on the Discovery website (www.discovery.co.za) before you can log in on the Discovery app. You will use the same username and password for the app as for the Discovery website.

 Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. This App reads / writes data from Apple’s Health App with your permission. Earn Vitality points for your workouts from the Health App.

About

Bankmed Balance

Access your medical aid information, track claims, and view health records. Earn rewards for fitness activities by linking to health apps.

Highlights
  • View plan benefits and savings
  • Track 12 months of claims history
  • Search for healthcare professionals
  • Access Electronic Health Record (EHR)
  • Earn fitness points and rewards
  • Integrates with Apple Health
Features
Read full description

The Balance application is simple to use and provides a convenient way to access your Balance information - anytime, anywhere. Application features: Balance: Access your Active Rewards Active Rewards for Balance members encourages and rewards you for getting active. Achieve your Active rewards weekly exercise goals, earn fitness points and get rewarded with a play on the gameboard to reveal Miles – the rewards currency that you can redeem for a range of exciting rewards in the rewards mall. User notes: The application is available for all Balance members. To access your personalised Active Rewards exercise goals, you need to activate the Active Rewards benefit in the Balance app. To find out more about your Balance benefits, you can visit the Balance website on https://www.balancesa.co.za/portal/. This App reads / writes data from Apple’s Health App with your permission. Earn Miles for your workouts tracked via the Balance App.

Screenshots

Discovery4 screens
Bankmed Balance4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Discovery at 4.5 against Bankmed Balance's 3.6. Discovery also leads on ratings volume (3.6K vs 8) and update cadence (every 10 days vs monthly). Bankmed Balance's advantage is monetization model (ad-supported vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Discovery holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Discovery has 3.6K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 22% of Discovery's written reviews are positive against 11% of Bankmed Balance's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Discovery ships an update every 10 days, Bankmed Balance monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Discovery versus Bankmed Balance: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDiscoveryBankmed Balance
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (3.6K ratings) — better3.6 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews21.7% of reviews — better10.7% of reviews
Number of ratings3.6K — better8
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.016.0
Further details — not scored
Size484 MB296 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperDiscovery LimitedBankmed

Customer experience

Discovery

All ratings3,592 ratings
Positive88.7%
Neutral5.3%
Negative6.1%
Written reviews143 reviews
Positive21.7%
Neutral10.5%
Negative67.8%

Bankmed Balance

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive10.7%
Neutral7.1%
Negative82.1%

Bugs and requests

Discovery

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Workouts not syncing correctly
  • Login and authentication problems
  • Rewards and points not updating properly
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved syncing with fitness trackers and health apps
  • Simplified navigation and user interface
  • Customizable dashboard and reporting
  • Ability to easily view and redeem rewards

Bankmed Balance

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Discovery

No in-app purchases

None

Bankmed Balance

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Discovery free?
Discovery is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bankmed Balance free?
Bankmed Balance is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Discovery or Bankmed Balance?
Discovery is rated higher. Discovery averages 4.5 out of 5 from 3.6K ratings, while Bankmed Balance averages 3.6 from 8 ratings.
Do Discovery or Bankmed Balance have ads?
Neither Discovery nor Bankmed Balance shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Discovery or Bankmed Balance?
Discovery ships an update every 10 days, and Bankmed Balance monthly. Most recently, Discovery was updated on November 6, 2026 and Bankmed Balance on November 2, 2026.

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