South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs says Smart ID replacement services are now available at 753 bank branches, passing its target of 750 more than four months early. More than one million people have used the bank channel since it launched on March 9, according to the department.
The service runs at participating branches of Absa, Capitec, First National Bank and Standard Bank. Customers need no booking or paperwork, and applications are processed using biometric technology in about five minutes, the department said. More banks and more services are due to be added shortly. The bank channel is one of several digital projects at the department, which this week launched a biometric asylum registration portal.
Home Affairs had aimed to reach 750 branches by the end of the 2026/27 financial year in March 2027. The program began in March with the first branches under a new partnership model with the banking sector, part of Minister Leon Schreiber’s Home Affairs @ home reform agenda.
When the current administration took office, only 214 Home Affairs offices were equipped to process Smart ID applications. Adding the bank branches brings the total to 967 locations, an increase of more than 350 percent in 246 days, which the department called the fastest service expansion in its history. It said many of the branches are in communities that previously had no access to the service.
The wider footprint supports the department’s plan to phase out the green ID book, which it describes as prone to fraud and a pull factor for illegal immigration and identity theft, in favor of the Smart ID card.
“Eight months ago, we set ourselves what many regarded as an extremely ambitious target of delivering Smart ID services to 750 bank branches by the end of March 2027. Today, we have not only achieved that target but exceeded it with more than four months to spare,” Schreiber said. “We can now say with confidence that the days of standing in a long queue just to apply for a replacement Smart ID are fast coming to an end.”
Schreiber said the department is building digital public infrastructure that brings millions of previously excluded citizens into Home Affairs services, and that it continues to redesign the department “for the modern age.”
Sources: SAnews
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
