Good news for South Africans applying for a new passport or Smart ID 

There are now 30 bank branches in the country where South Africans can renew their passports and get their Smart IDs – with more on the way.

South Africa’s Big Four banks – Standard Bank, Nedbank, FNB and Absa – have enabled some of their branches to allow South Africans to renew their passports and Smart IDs without needing to go to Home Affairs.

These banks told Daily Investor earlier this year that this allows them to make the most of their existing infrastructure to offer greater convenience to clients and is part of their efforts to become full-service institutions.

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) introduced the eHomeAffairs system in 2016. Since then, FNB, Standard Bank, Absa, Investec, Nedbank, and Discovery Bank have operated successful pilot sites. 

This facility enables people to apply for a Smart ID card or new passport online and pay for it before going into a bank branch to do their biometric verification. 

When the pilot was launched, the eHomeAffairs system was available at 12 Gauteng bank branches and one Cape Town branch.

However, the system appears to be in a perpetually renewing pilot phase, with rollouts being painstakingly slow. 

The service has now expanded to 30 bank branches in the country where South Africans can make use of the facility.

For customers, the convenience of being able to renew essential documents at familiar locations is a significant advantage. 

Banks see some benefit from this offering, as it increases brand loyalty and makes more efficient use of their branch space. However, they do not receive any financial remuneration for hosting the Home Affairs offices within their branches. 

Despite this, South African banks are steadfast in keeping this facility going, and the future of eHomeAffairs in bank branches looks promising. 

As the system becomes more widely available, it is expected to further enhance customer satisfaction and strengthen the relationship between banks and their customers. 

Both FNB and Standard Bank said they are in discussions with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) about expanding the service to more branches in the near future. 

In September, MyBroadband reported that the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) and the DHA are nearing the finalisation of legal agreements that will allow more bank branches to support smart ID card applications and passport renewals.

However, the publication warned that South Africans should not expect a sudden surge in new branches, as the banks and DHA still need to agree on the best locations to roll out the service.

The rollout strategy will be based on several factors, including providing adequate coverage in areas with demand and ensuring a particular branch has sufficient staff and expertise to render a high-quality service.

In addition, the rollouts will require the State Information Technology Agency to connect the branches with Home Affairs systems, including the National Population Register.

Currently, there are DHA-enabled bank branches in all provinces except the Free State and the North West.

Despite the slow rollout of the service, it has been wildly popular among South Africans who want to avoid going to a Home Affairs branch to renew these documents.

Data from FNB shows that over 1.4 million Smart ID cards and passport renewals are carried out at eHomeAffairs-enabled bank branches. 

By the end of March 2024, the bank’s seven eHomeAffairs-enabled branches had issued 220,664 Smart ID cards and renewed 273,039 passports for a total tally of 493,703.

The bank said its branches currently complete around 7,000 ID and passport applications in a month.

The nine eHomeAffairs-supported branches of South Africa’s biggest bank, Standard Bank, issued or renewed 418,397 documents, the second-highest number.

All the country’s biggest banks, except Capitec and TymeBank, have DHA-enabled branches in Gauteng.

The table below shows all the DHA-enabled bank branches in South Africa.