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Capitec Bank and First National Bank (FNB) have joined the Department of Home Affairs’ new digital partnership model to expand access to Smart ID and passport services across South Africa.
Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber announced that the partnership will increase service points from the current 30 bank branches to hundreds more in both urban and rural areas. The initiative will also extend these services to secure digital banking applications.
“In line with the Medium-Term Development Plan target for Home Affairs to expand services to 1 000 bank branches by 2029, the Director-General, Mr Tommy Makhode, wrote on 30 April 2025 to the Chief Executive Officers of nine major banks, inviting them to participate in this transformative, digital-first phase of our collaboration with the banking sector,” the department said.
The existing partnership, which began over a decade ago, has so far delivered Smart ID and passport services at 30 branches across five banks. However, the original model relied on duplicating Home Affairs staff and hardware in bank branches, limiting its reach and failing to fully utilise technology to expand services nationwide.
The new approach will leverage banks’ existing branch networks and widely used digital banking platforms to make services more accessible, particularly for rural communities.
According to the department, the move signals “the beginning of the end” for long travel distances, lengthy queues, and the outdated Green ID book, which is vulnerable to fraud and identity theft. It also marks another step in the Government of National Unity’s push for a “digital-first era” of public service delivery.
Minister Schreiber will this week visit Capitec and FNB to provide further details on the reform. On 12 August, he will be at Capitec’s head office in Stellenbosch, followed by a visit to FNB’s Portside Tower in Cape Town on Wednesday.
The department reiterated its call for other banks, including ABSA, African Bank, TymeBank, Discovery Bank, Investec, Nedbank, and Standard Bank, to join the initiative to ensure all South Africans can access Smart ID and passport services within their communities.
“This reform marks a critical milestone in unlocking the power of digital transformation to deliver Home Affairs @ home,” the department said.
