Good news for Capitec customers in South Africa who need a Smart ID and passport
Capitec plans to introduce passport and Smart ID services to approximately 300 branches within the next year, with the intention of expanding the service to its more than 800 branches in the future.
The bank said that the services are currently in pilot, with 100 branches expected to be activated by mid-2026, and 200 more by the end of that year.
Capitec, which is South Africa’s largest bank by customer numbers and market cap, is partnering with the Department of Home Affairs to bring Smart ID and passport services.
In April, Home Affairs Minister Leon Screiber wrote to all major banks, inviting them to join the next phase of its service rollout.
The minister said that the next phase will deviate from the pilot project, which had seen Smart ID and Passport services offered at approximately 30 bank branches.
The old model involved a costly duplication of Home Affairs staff and hardware within bank branches, and it failed to leverage technology to significantly expand services.
Under the new system, the department said that there will be a live capture process at the branches, with greater interoperability between the banks and the DHA’s systems.
Capitec had previously steered clear of the pilot as it believed that the old system would detract from its existing branch operations.
It noted that the old system lacked integration, and its branch consultants would be split between serving banking customers and DHA customers.
Moreover, it would need to dedicate limited branch space to non-Capitec clients and services.
Capitec joined the new initiative as it adopted a digital-first approach, which would enable full integration into banking apps and systems, thereby preventing the previous issues it had flagged.
With the largest branch network in the country, Capitec plans to expand its Smart ID and passport services nationwide rapidly.
At its inaugural Innovation Exchange, Capitec noted that its partnership with the DHA is currently in pilot.
Newly appointed Group CEO Graham Lee said that the process requires excellence across an end-to-end value chain, from biometric capture in branches to fulfilment.
Capitec plans to activate the service in 100 branches by mid-2026, with expansion to approximately 300 branches by year-end.
It then plans to scale beyond this to its network of over 860 branches across South Africa.
Capitec said it will launch the service in areas that were previously overlooked by the pilot, with most of its bank branches located in urban areas.
Banks sign on
The new partnership has been supported by several banks, including new entrants TymeBank and African Bank, who will also offer the service for the first time.
Banks that have previously offered the service, including FNB, Standard Bank, Nedbank, Absa and Discovery Bank, will also expand the service. Investec, which was part of the previous pilot, has not signed on.
While details of all the banks’ plans have remained scarce since the announcement earlier this year, Standard Bank has provided an update, with the new and improved services to launch at 20 branches.
The new branches are set to open in early 2026, with two branches already selected for the pilot testing phase.
It said that it has reached a milestone in its collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs for the services and has procured all the necessary devices and infrastructure needed for the rollout.
The 20 new branches have been “strategically selected” to ensure geographic diversity and to serve communities where Home Affairs services are limited.
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