Smart ID and passport services coming to Capitec branches across South Africa

Capitec and FNB have signed up to the Department of Home Affairs’ (DHA) new digital partnership model, which will expand Smart ID and Passport services to hundreds of bank branches nationwide.

On Monday, 11 August, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber announced that Capitec and FNB are the first banks to sign up to this model.

The minister explained that his department invited several South African banks, including Absa, African Bank, Capitec, Discovery Bank, and Standard Bank, to join this new model.

It is important to note that this model is a new phase of an existing collaboration between Home Affairs and the country’s banking sector.

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

Currently, 30 bank branches in South Africa offer passport and Smart ID renewals through this system.

Now, the DHA is looking to expand this project, with a medium-term goal to extend these services to 1,000 bank branches, as part of its “Home Affairs@home” strategy.

This is premised on the rollout of a new live capture system model, which the department hopes will accelerate the adoption of Smart IDs in the country.

Schreiber explained that the old model relied on the costly duplication of Home Affairs staff and hardware inside bank branches.

It also failed to take advantage of technology to dramatically expand services into all rural and urban areas where bank branches already exist, and onto banking apps.

“Thanks to our commitment to digital transformation, Home Affairs is now digitalising this long-standing partnership after Capitec and FNB became the first banks to respond positively to our invitation,” he said. 

“I reiterate the call for all other banks to similarly accept our invitation to work together to provide Smart ID and Passport services in their branches and on their digital apps.”

The minister said more details will be announced following talks with Capitec and FNB this week. 

“It is safe to say that this marks the beginning of the end for Home Affairs queues, and the start of a new digital-first era in public service delivery,” he said. 

“Cabinet’s Medium-Term Development Plan tasks us with expanding this service to 1,000 bank branches, and we are well on our way to meeting that commitment.”