SAns spending less on alcohol, more on healthy habits - key insights from SpendTrend26

We often read about the bad habits so many South Africans indulge in like online betting, high alcohol use and money spent on take-away food.

However, the SpendTrend26 report reflects some encouraging signs like more spending on personal health.

The report on consumer spending behaviour produced annually by Discovery Bank and Visa looks at spend nationally as well as across seven major South African cities. Combining Visa’s extensive dataset insights with Discovery Bank’s analytical expertise, it incorporates analysis on 2.6 billion credit card transactions across 12 million cards between 2021 and 2025.

The transaction analysis is paired with the SpendTrend26 South African Consumer Survey of credit card holders earning above R100,000 per year.

This year’s survey perspectives include a focus on digital payments, subscription management, AI use, online betting, and health spend.

Hylton Kallner, CEO of Discovery Bank, notes that four rate cuts in 2025 brought the prime lending rate down from 11.25% to 10.25%, and for the first time since 2022, consumer spending grew above inflation – by 0.8 percentage points.

The more important story, though, is behavioural, he says:

"Rather than using that relief for additional discretionary spend, households are using rewards, budgeting tools and value-seeking strategies to stretch what they already have. This is discipline, not distress – and it gives us cautious optimism for how South Africans will respond to the pressures 2026 brings.”

Two of the fast-moving areas probed by this year's Consumer Survey are online betting, and the use of prescribed weight-management medications.

In conversation with Stephen Grootes, Kallner says respondents indicated that one in seven households surveyed, or 14%, had at least one person that was using the GLP-1 or other prescribed weight-loss drugs.

The really interesting part that came with this, was an increased focus on health in general, he goes on.

"59% say they're spending more on healthier foods and less on take-aways, choosing rather to cook food at home. 45% also say they're spending less on alcohol... so it is reflective of a more holistic change in behaviour which we think is more sustainable, and we see it in our own stats as well with increased physical activity."

10 key findings from SpendTrend26

1. Spending edges past inflation
2. Consumers are strategic and value-led on essentials
3. Travel rebounds, and ride-hailing gains momentum.
4. Small treats remain protected as budgets tighten
5. Cryptocurrency shifts from speculation to disciplined, steady investing
6. Online sports betting overtakes in-person gambling spend
7. Prescribed weight-management medicine emerges as a new health spending category
8. Digital payments become the default as consumers stay vigilant against fraud
9. AI reshapes shopping decisions and the subscription economy
10. Events and celebrations are a key driver of big spending

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the conversation with Kallner, and click here to read a summary of the report - skip to 29:09 for the interview audio