500 more bank branches for South Africans to get their Smart ID coming this year
Home Affairs plans to rapidly scale its partnership with banks to offer its services, with 250 bank branches now brought online and 500 more on the way.
The department, the Border Management Authority, and Government Printing Works have been driving a digital transformation agenda.
“The goal is to reform all systems and processes to deliver Home Affairs @ home by decentralising access to services through technology,” Home Affairs said.
“Instead of forcing citizens and visitors to come to the department to access a service, technology is being used to bring services directly to them.”
Since joining the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) in 2024, the department has delivered on its reform programmes, with more ambitious reforms still to come.
A major push from the department has been the expansion of Smart ID services to banks across South Africa.
Banks and the department initially worked on a pilot that would see Home Affairs staff seconded to branches of Nedbank, Standard Bank, Absa, Investec, Discovery Bank and FNB.
However, the initial pilot was limited because the roughly 30 branches that offered the service were often in urban areas, and banks lacked control over the system.
The new system allows banks greater access to Home Affairs’ systems, while also allowing Home Affairs staff to work on other matters. It has also seen Capitec join the banks that offer the service.
The department said that the partnership model with the banking sector has already expanded Smart ID replacement to 252 bank branches, processing over 300,000 applications in just four months.
By the end of the year, Home Affairs said that the network will grow to 750 branches. While the expansion has been limited to Smart IDs, plans to expand the offerings to passports are also underway.
Another major focus of Minister Leon Schreiber has been replacing Green ID books in South Africa, which are the most frequently defrauded documents in the country, with Smart ID cards.
Home Affairs issued a record four million Smart ID cards during the 2025/26 financial year, more than 1.3 million above the previous annual average.
Draft regulations have also been published for South Africa’s secure Digital Identity system, which will bring services directly onto smartphones.
The next phase will see the final regulations promulgated and the Digital ID prototype launched, the department said.
Home Affairs going global
Home Affairs has also created an automated citizenship reinstatement portal following an order from the Constitutional Court.
Previous legislation deemed that South Africans who acquired citizenship in another country would automatically lose their South African citizenship. This was then ruled unconstitutional.
The department also rolled out dedicated service centres for citizens abroad to expand access and cut turnaround times.
During the next phase of work, Smart ID and passport applications will then be digitised in a similar manner to the digital partnership done with the banking sector domestically.
“Innovations like five-minute paperless applications at over 250 bank branches were unthinkable prior to the Home Affairs @ home programmes,” said Schreiber
“By driving innovation and embracing digital transformation, we are delivering well ahead of schedule, and we will not rest until we complete this work to deliver dignity for all.”
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