Capitec launching Smart ID and passport services in South Africa
After years of skirting the Smart ID and Passport services, Capitec will finally be joining the list of banks rolling out Home Affairs services in some capacity.
DHA minister Leon Schreiber announced on Monday (11 August) that Capitec and FNB are the first banks to join the department’s new push to expand access to these services to 100 more branches this year, and to banking apps.
The department has not yet outlined how the banks will be involved, or in what capacity they will be offering the services, but confirmed that Capitec and FNB have “signed up” for the partnership.
Schreiber said that the department wrote to all major banks in April inviting them to join the next phase of its service rollout.
According to the minister, this next phase will deviate from the pilot project that had seen Smart ID and Passport services offered at about 30 bank branches.
He said this “old model” relied on the costly duplication of Home Affairs staff and hardware inside bank branches, and failed to take advantage of technology to dramatically expand services.
Under the new system, the department pointed to a better “live capture” process, and more interoperability between the banks and the DHA’s systems.
“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.”
Schreiber said that more details will be announced soon, with the department meeting Capitec and FNB in the coming days and weeks to plot the path forward.
He reiterated that this was a fundamental step to expanding access to Smart ID and passport services to over 1,000 bank branches over the next three years.
South Africa’s biggest bank on board
BusinessTech previously asked Capitec about its participation in the Smart ID rollout, and the bank only alluded to “contructive talks” with the DHA about joining.
It had historically steered clear of the pilot due to it detracting from its branch operations.
Capitec said that it was not an integrated system, and its branch consultants would be split between serving banking customers and DHA customers.
It would have also needed to dedicate limited branch space to non-Capitec clients and services.
However, with a digital-first approach, and integration into banking apps and systems, the new model of the service can, in theory, side-step these issues.
According to Schreiber, getting these services onto banking apps will eliminate the need for long queues.
Having hundreds of more access points will also accelerate the Smart ID rollout and position the department for its ultimate goal of doing away with the green barcoded ID books.
The department aims to discontinue the green ID book by the end of 2029.
Securing a deal with Capitec will be an immense boost for the DHA, as the group banks over a third of South Africa’s population.
An analysis of the FY2024 data from the banks shows that the major banks have a physical branch network of over 3,300 branches.
Capitec accounts for almost 900 of these.
While getting access to Capitec’s branch network would be a major boon for the DHA, there has not yet been any confirmation that branch access will part of the partnership, with the banking app also being a path.
Loading ...