Banking

Good news for Capitec customers in South Africa

Luke Fraser

 ·22 Apr 2026

Capitec Group CEO Graham Lee says that the bank is working with Home Affairs to expand Smart ID and passport services at its branches.

While Home Affairs and banks have partnered for over a decade to offer passport and Smart ID services, Capitec only started offering the service last month.

Capitec shunned the initial pilot with Home Affairs despite having the largest branch network in the country.

However, Capitec decided to join a new expanded initiative, which gives it greater control over the system, with Home Affairs staff not seconded to bank branches like the initial pilot.

The bank has become the driving force in offering Smart ID services across the country, with 86 branches now offering them, up from zero at the start of the year.

The bank has prioritised areas that lacked modernised Home Affairs infrastructure to ensure that all customers get access to Smart ID services.

Since its inception in March 2026, the group has successfully processed 71,000 Smart ID applications at its branches. The bank uses advanced self-service terminals for the service.

That said, the group is somewhat limited in its current state, as it can only offer Smart IDs to non-first-time users.

Only replacement Smart ID cards can be issued. This means that only South Africans who have lost, stolen, or damaged a Smart ID card, or who need to replace a green ID book, can use the service.

Speaking with BusinessTech following the release of the group’s FY2026 financial results, Lee said that the bank is working with Home Affairs to expand the service offerings.

This includes starting to offer passport renewals and Smart ID applications for first-time users. While Smart IDs take precedence, passports expire and need to be changed more regularly.

The bank is also working with Home Affairs to find areas where the most demand for services exists.

For example, Lee said that the Thohoyandou, Limpopo branch has seen a surge in demand, which will lead to further Home Affairs services being sent to the area.

Lee added that a major part of the Smart ID and passport rollout was a change in the online verification system (OVS).

Last year, Home Affairs increased the OVS fee by 6,500% to R10. While the increase drew widespread anger from members in the banking and telcos space, Lee said that the fee increase was necessary.

The CEO said that the previous fee was too low and created opportunities for abuse. Home Affairs argued that the lower fee overwhelmed its systems, resulting in well-known downtime issues.

The largest banking network in South Africa

Capitec’s expansion of Smart ID and passport services is made easier by its expansive branch network that continues to grow, while its competitors cut back on physical locations.

In its financial results, the group said that its bank branch network increased to 885 by February 2026, while its ATM network dropped slightly to 8,771.

A comparison by MyBroadband shows that Capitec has massively expanded its physical locations over the last decade.

Its branch network has expanded by 32 locations since 2022, while its ATM network has expanded by 1,593 locations.

The bank told our affiliated publication that it will continue to grow its ATM and bank branch network in 2026.

Despite Capitec’s App being the most used in South Africa’s banking space, the group believes its branch network is the main way customers access its services.