Banking

Capitec rolling out smart ID services across South Africa

Bianke Neethling • 9 March 2026

On Monday, 9 March, Capitec unveiled its first in-branch smart ID self-service terminals (SSTs), in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

With Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber in attendance, Capitec announced the launch of these terminals at its branch in Eyethu Orange Farm Mall in Orange Farm, Gauteng.

This follows a successful piloting phase, with the service now live in select branches, marking the beginning of a phased national rollout that will expand to 100 locations by mid-2026.

On Monday, the service launched at seven Capitec branches, namely Sandton City (Gauteng), Orange Farm Eyethu Mall (Gauteng), Howick (KwaZulu-Natal), Swellendam and Hermanus Whale Coast Mall (Western Cape), Kathu Village Mall (Northern Cape), and N1 Botlokwa Plaza, Matoks (Limpopo).

The bank said this milestone event marks an important step in expanding access to essential documentation by enabling clients to conveniently apply for Smart IDs directly within Capitec branches.

Capitec plans to roll out these services and terminals across its branch network. With more than 860 branches across suburbs, townships and rural areas, Capitec said it is uniquely positioned to extend access and help ease the pressure in the DHA offices that can issue smart IDs.

This comes after Capitec was one of the first banks to join the DHA’s expanded partnership with South African banks, which aims to roll out smart ID and passport services in branches across the country.

Capitec first announced its collaboration with the DHA in August 2025, with major local banks like FNB, Standard Bank, and Absa also joining shortly after.

“This partnership with Capitec marks a historic step in transforming how South Africans access their identity documents,” Schreiber said in a press statement.

“By bringing Smart ID services into bank branches, we are moving closer to a future where people no longer have to travel long distances or stand in long queues to access this fundamental right.”

“This is what effective public-private collaboration looks like. It uses innovation and national reach to ensure every South African can obtain the identity they need to participate fully in our economy and democracy, closer to where they live. This is our vision to deliver Home Affairs @ home, in action.”

At the launch event, Schreiber described it as the “end of long queues” at Home Affairs offices in South Africa, saying it is a win-win solution for the DHA and South Africans.

The DHA is seeking to phase out green ID books in South Africa, replacing them with more secure and less fraud-prone smart ID cards.

Capitec CEO Graham Lee, who also attended the launch, said that, by integrating Home Affairs services into the bank’s branches, it is using its scale and technology to shorten long journeys and help fill a real gap in underserved communities.

The DHA first introduced the eHomeAffairs system in 2016. Since then, FNB, Standard Bank, Absa, Investec, Nedbank, and Discovery Bank have operated successful pilot sites.

However, only 30 bank branches in South Africa currently offer passport and smart ID renewals. Less than 10% of smart IDs issued to date in the current financial year have been through banks.

The DHA is looking to expand access to these services, with a medium-term goal of extending them to 1,000 bank branches across the country.

Many of South Africa’s biggest banks have signed up for the expanded partnership, including Capitec, FNB, Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank, African Bank and Tyme Bank.

Capitec’s self-service terminals

Capitec’s SSTs are lauded as an industry-first, with Capitec being the first bank to move beyond reliance on stationed Home Affairs officials in its branches.

Capitec developed a proprietary digital integration, built on Amazon Web Services, that connects dedicated in-branch SSTs directly to DHA systems.

This enables Capitec to scale the service quickly with strong stability and lower operational costs. The terminals are locally manufactured and centrally managed, enabling rapid deployment of new features and critical security updates.

“By democratising access to essential identity documents, we support the government’s mandate for socio-economic transformation,” Lee said. “This partnership also ensures every citizen has the chance to participate in the nation’s progress.”

To use Capitec’s Smart ID services, customers can visit a branch with an SST, with no bookings required, and apply at the kiosk by scanning their fingerprints and face. Capitec’s proprietary biometric technology means applications can be completed without paperwork.

The application fee is R150, made up of the standard DHA fee of R140 and a Capitec service fee of R10 to cover logistics. The bank said the application process should take five minutes or less.

Once the application is completed, customers can track its progress in the Capitec banking app and return to the branch where they applied to collect their Smart ID once notified.

Schreiber explained that technology like these kiosks makes the smart ID application process more secure than in-person services at Home Affairs branches, as it reduces the opportunity and ability to commit fraud. “You cannot bribe a computer,” the minister explained at the launch event.

Additional branches will begin offering the service throughout the week, with more locations planned across the country throughout the year as the rollout expands.

Below is an image of what the Home Affairs self-service kiosks look like at Capitec’s Orange Farm branch.