Discovery Bank Deceased Estates Contact Details

Discovery does not publish a single dedicated deceased estates desk. Reporting a death that involves a Discovery Bank account splits across two routes: the bank, to stop the cards and freeze the accounts, and Discovery Wills and Trust Services, which is the arm that actually administers estates. Ringing the wrong one is the usual reason people get passed around.

Official provider route

• Discovery Wills and Trust Services: 0860 101 255, Monday to Friday 08:00 – 16:30, email Willsandtrust_info@discovery.co.za. This is the estate administration route, and the one to use if Discovery is named as executor.
• Discovery Bank client service and complaints: 0800 079 697, printed as 0800 07 96 97, email service@discovery.bank and complaints@discovery.bank.
• Cards on the deceased account: 011 324 4444, the Discovery Bank fraud and stolen card line, staffed 24 hours a day. Stopping a card cannot wait for office hours.

Discovery’s own pages are inconsistent about the hours on 0800 079 697. The bank complaints page describes it as available 24 hours a day, all year, while the corporate contact page gives Monday to Friday 08:00 to 17:00 for lost and stolen cards. Treat the 24-hour fraud line on 011 324 4444 as the reliable after-hours number.

Product or service support

• Stop the cards first. A deceased person’s bank card must not be used after death, including by a spouse or child. Using it is not a technicality – it is fraud against the estate, and it is the single most common mistake made in the first week.
• The accounts are frozen once the bank is notified. Debit orders stop, and so do salary and pension deposits. That is why funeral costs are usually paid from a funeral policy or by the family, not from the deceased’s current account.
• A joint account does not simply pass to the survivor. The deceased’s share forms part of the estate.
• Discovery Wills and Trust Services covers executor and trustee appointments, deceased estate administration, testamentary trust administration and estate property transfers.
• Other Discovery products held by the deceased – Life, Health, Invest, Insure – are reported separately through their own service lines. Notifying the bank does not notify the rest of the group.

Eligibility, account or policy requirements

• The death certificate, issued by a doctor for a natural death or by the state mortuary after a post-mortem where the cause was unnatural.
• The deceased’s identity document and the identity document of the person reporting the death.
• The original will, if there is one. Discovery’s guidance is to know in advance where the most recent will is kept, because the estate cannot be wound up around a copy nobody can find.
• Letters of Executorship from the Master of the High Court. Until the Master appoints an executor, nobody has legal authority to deal with the accounts, and the bank cannot release funds no matter how urgent the need.
• The estate must be reported to the Master within 14 days of the death.
• For a cremation, two doctors must complete and sign cremation forms – a second post-mortem is required to confirm the body may be cremated.

Escalation route

• Complain to Discovery Bank first on 0800 079 697 or complaints@discovery.bank. The bank commits to updating you during the process and giving the outcome in writing, with senior executive review for some complaints.
• Unresolved bank complaints go to the National Financial Ombud on 0860 800 900, which absorbed the former Ombudsman for Banking Services and Credit Ombud.
• Complaints about the administration of the estate itself – delay, fees, an executor not accounting – go to the Master of the High Court in the jurisdiction where the estate was reported, since the Master supervises executors.
• Complaints about advice given when a policy or plan was sold go to the FAIS Ombud.
• Executor fees are capped by regulation, and the estate is entitled to an account. Ask for the liquidation and distribution account rather than accepting a verbal summary.
• Queries about how the deceased’s personal information is handled fall under POPIA, with the Information Regulator on 010 023 5200.

Sources

• Discovery corporate contact page, discovery.co.za/corporate/contact-us, read 4 September 2026 – Wills and Trust Services number, hours and mailbox, Discovery Bank fraud, lost card and complaints routes.
• Discovery Smart Money, Taking care of business when a loved one passes away, discovery.co.za – death certificate scenarios, identification of the deceased and cremation form requirements.
• Published contact number for the National Financial Ombud and the Information Regulator.