Get your smart ID at more bank branches. The Home Affairs Department has exceeded its own target of rolling out its new Digital Partnership Model to 110 bank branches by the end of March. The initial target was 100 bank branches. A third bank, FNB, has also officially joined the project.

Home Affairs Minister, Dr Leon Schreiber, said: “The rapid pace at which Home Affairs is fixing long-standing problems is a testament to the power of reform-minded leadership that embraces innovation.

Get your smart ID at more bank branches

The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, says just three weeks after the first branch was launched, 77 branches of Capitec Bank were online. This was along with 30 branches of Standard Bank, and the first three branches of First National Bank. They offer Smart ID replacement services in communities that have never had access before. He says that when this is compared to the existing 248 Home Affairs offices offering Smart ID services, the addition of 110 more service points constitutes a 44% service expansion over those three weeks.

Home Affairs reached yet another major milestone on its digital transformation journey

So far, over 25 000 Smart ID applications have already been processed through participating bank branches. He says the system is processing applications at a rate of more than one per minute. The Minister added that through this new model, citizens are able to apply to replace their Green ID Book or a lost Smart ID at participating bank branches. They can do this in as little as five minutes. This avoids long travel times and queues.

The Minister added, “In addition to what we have already delivered, first-time Smart ID applications, Passport applications, secure courier delivery of IDs and Passports.”

The Department has exceeded its own internal target

You are reminded that the new service does not require any prior booking or paperwork. It is secured through cutting-edge fingerprint and facial recognition technology. The Minister says the process eliminates paper-based manual processes and official discretion. The application process is also secured against manipulation and fraud.

“applications submitted via digital banking apps will all become reality through these reforms.”

1 000 bank branches by 2029

The Acting Spokesperson to the Minister, André Gaum, says the Department is firmly on track to deliver on its target in the Medium-Term Development Plan. The target is to reach 1 000 bank branches by 2029. He says the rollout remains deliberate and phased to ensure system stability and service quality. Further expansion is planned in the coming weeks. The Minister says that Absa Bank and Nedbank are currently in varying stages of testing and are expected to go live once testing is complete.