Extension for bank branches offering Smart IDs and Passports in South Africa

The Department of Home Affairs has confirmed that the SmartID and Passport partnerships with major South African banks will continue, with the pilot again being extended to March 2024.

The pilot project was set to come to an end on 31 March 2023, but was extended to September 2023. Days away from concluding, with no permanent agreement yet signed, Home Affairs and the participating banks have agreed to extend the project into 2024.

“The Memorandum of Understanding with the banks will be extended to 31 March 2024,” Home Affairs said, adding that Absa, Discovery Bank, FNB, Investec, Nedbank and Standard Bank continue to be a part of the project.

In its response, the department noted that there are 29 bank branches currently taking part in the project.

The department has counted six branches for Nedbank, but the group confirmed that it only has five branches in the pilot. The DHA has also counted five branches from Absa, but the group actually has 6 taking part.

Previously, the DHA revealed that the big hurdle for the project was service levels at the department. Because the Home Affairs branches in the banks are satellite offices, they are still operate at Home Affairs levels of service – which are notoriously poor.

The banks specifically flagged SITA and system downtime as big problems. Because the DHA offices are in branded bank branches, poor services levels may reflect poorly on the banks and cause reputational damage.

While groups like FNB, Standard Bank, Absa and Nedbank have expressed interest in expanding the Home Affairs services, the entire project rests on the pilot ending with with a positive commitment from the DHA.

Despite talking of 43 new offices being primed to open back in 2022, progress in extending the project has come to a standstill.

The last known bank branch to open for Home Affairs services was the Standard Bank, Kathu Mall branch, which opened at the end of 2022 and is still operating in a trial mode.

Meanwhile, Home Affairs has focused its service expansion to several shopping malls in the country, and bolstering its mobile unit facilities to reach more remote areas.

The total breakdown of 29 branches is as follows:

• Standard Bank: 9
• FNB: 7
• Absa: 6
• Nedbank: 5
• Investec Bank: 1
• Discovery Bank: 1

The details of the known bank branches can be seen below.

Standard Bank

FNB

Nedbank

Absa

Other banks

Read: New bank branches for Smart IDs and passports in South Africa hit a wall