The 30 bank branches where you can renew your South African passport – with more to come
There are currently 30 bank branches at Absa, Discovery Bank, FNB, Nedbank, Investec and Standard Bank, where South Africans can renew their South African passport, with many more to come.
In 2016, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) collaborated with four major banks to introduce an online application platform for Smart ID cards and passports.
Absa, FNB, Nedbank, and Standard Bank provided space inside banks for the Department of Home Affairs kiosks.
South Africans could use the online platform for their Smart ID cards and passport applications and visit the bank branch for fingerprints and pictures.
When the pilot was launched, the eHomeAffairs system was available at 12 Gauteng bank branches and one Cape Town branch.
The service made it easy for South Africans to get their new passport or Smart ID book and removed the need to visit a Home Affairs office.
Most South Africans dread visiting a Home Affairs office because of its inefficiency, long queues, and bad service.
The eHomeAffairs pilot was extremely successful and popular. It has processed over 1.4 million smart ID card applications and passport renewals.
This success helped to drive the initiative, and more banks and bank branches were added to the pilot program.
Investec and Discovery Bank joined the project, and the service expanded to more provinces with nearly 30 bank branches.
The service is now available at select bank branches in Gauteng, the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal.
However, despite the expansion over the past eight years, it has not been as fast as many South Africans hoped.
The service is still unavailable in the North West, Free State, and Northern Cape and is not available close to most South Africans.
Another complaint is that the list of banks where it is available is not constant. Some banks listed can close the service unexpectedly.
The table below shows all the bank branches where South Africans can renew their Smart IDs and Passports:
| Bank branches offering passport and smart ID services | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bank | Address | Contact |
| Standard Bank (9) | ||
| Standard Bank Canal Walk | Shop 599, Upper Level, Canal Walk Shopping Center, Century Blvd, Century City | 021 529 8216 |
| Standard Bank Centurion | Cnr Lenchen and Old Johannesburg Rd Centurion Lifestyle Centre | 012 671 4042 |
| Standard Bank Jubilee Mall | Shop no. 47 Jubilee Mall corner Jubliee and Harry Gwala Road Temba Hammanskraal | 011 351 7814 |
| Standard Bank Kathu Mall | Shop 62 Village Walk Shopping Centre Kathu, Hendrik Van Eck Street, Postmasburg | 053 723 9610 |
| Standard Bank Killarney Mall | Killarney Mall, Riviera Rd, Killarney, Johannesburg | 011 486 0002 |
| Standard Bank Kingsmead | 1 Kingsmead Way, Durban | 031 308 7900 |
| Standard Bank Mitchell’s Plain Promenade | Corner AZ Berman Road And Morgenster Road, Mitchell’s Plain | 0860 123 000 |
| Standard Bank Newton Park | 1 Pickering St Newton Park Port Elizabeth | 041 404 8319 |
| Standard Bank Simmonds Street | 5 Simmonds St, Selby, Johannesburg. | 011 631 1624 / 011 639 4205 |
| FNB (7) | ||
| FNB Burgersfort | Shop 55 Twin City Complex Dirk Winterbach Street Burgersfort | 072 457 8619 / 013 216 0098 |
| FNB Centurion Lifestyle Centre | Cnr Lenchen and Old Johannesburg Rd Centurion Lifestyle Centre Centurion | 066 460 0530 / 012 653 2661 |
| FNB Cornubia | Shop U56, Cornubia Boulevard, Cnr N2 Highway & M41, Durban | 031 308 7900 |
| FNB Glen Shopping Centre | Shop U2, The Glen Shopping Centre, Glenvista | 061 495 4441 |
| FNB Greenpoint | Shop 1 & 2, ERF 176300, Media Quarter, Somerset Road, Greenpoint | 087 345 6090 |
| FNB Lynwood | Shop L04 Upper-level Cnr Simon Vermooten & Lynnwood Rd Equestria Pretoria | 066 460 0130 |
| FNB Merchant Place | 4 Merchant Place c/o Rivonia and Freedman Dr Sandton | 066 290 3307 |
| Nedbank (6) | ||
| Nedbank Arcadia | Shop 25, Nedbank Plaza, Beatrix Street, Arcadia | 066 460 0122 |
| Nedbank Constantia Kloof | 16 Constantia Boulevard Constantia Kloof Roodepoort | 011 639 4208 |
| Nedbank Durban North | 57 Adelaide Tambo Dr, Durban North, 4051 | 0800 555 111 |
| Nedbank Nelspruit | Shop 65 The Crossing Shopping Centre c/o Samora Machel and Madiba Drive Nelspruit | 081 336 5941 |
| Nedbank Rivonia | 135 Rivonia Road, Sandown, Sandton | 066 290 3257 |
| Nedbank St George’s Mall | Shop 3 The Box, St Georges Mall c/o Riebeeck Street | 0800 555 111 |
| Absa (6) | ||
| Absa Centurion Lifestyle Centre | Shop 36 c/o Lenchen and Old Johannesburg Road Centurion Lifestyle Centre Centurion | 066 460 0356 |
| Absa Key West Krugersdorp | Shop 80 Key West Shopping Centre cnr Paardekraal Drive and Viljoen Street Krugersdorp | 079 900 6457 |
| Absa Port Elizabeth | 682 Cnr. Bagshaw & Govan Mbeki Avenue, Port Elizabeth | 041 404 8319 |
| Absa Sandton City | Cnr Rivonia Road and 5th Street Sandton | 066 290 3314 |
| Absa Stellenbosch | Oude Bloemhof Building, Cnr Plein And Ryneveld Streets, Stellenbosch | 021 809 2311 |
| Absa Towers | Cnr Commissioner And Troye Streets, Johannesburg | 011 350 4111 |
| Discovery Bank (1) | ||
| Discovery Bank Head Office | 1 Discovery Place, c/o Rivonia Road and Katherine Street, Sandton | 0860 998 877 |
| Investec (1) | ||
| Investec Bank Sandown | 100 Grayston Dr Sandown Sandton | 011 286 7000 |
More bank branches are on their way
MyBroadband reported that the number of bank branches supporting smart ID card and passport renewal services is set to more than double.
The Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) has facilitated discussions on public-private partnership (PPP) agreements between the banks and the DHA for about three years.
BASA’s prudential head, Mark Brits, said the agreements should be mostly completed and signed by the end of September 2024, with just some final legal ironing.
The PPPs will allow the banks to use their own employees and infrastructure to run the service, which could make it commercially viable.
Four banks, Absa, Discovery Bank, FNB, and Nedbank, said they would add the service to additional branches once the PPPs were in place.
FNB said they plan to add 18 eHomeAffairs-enabled branches to their existing seven branches to bring their total network to 25.
Further good news is that FNB plans to have representation across all nine provinces in urban centres.
While it did not provide specific planned branch locations, the bank’s initial focus will be on provinces where it does not currently support the service.
This means FNB will likely expand the service at branches in the Northern Cape, North West, and Free State.
“With that said, we are looking to start our rollout into other provinces once we first see an increase in customers from other provinces that are making use of the service,” FNB said.
Absa’s managing executive for integrated channels, Tshiwela Mhlantla, said Absa currently has an additional 12 branches ready for activation.
Although Nedbank also confirmed it wanted to expand its eHomeAffairs services, it did not elaborate on how many branches it would add.
The bank said the rollout strategy would be based on a continuous review of the landscape to identify further expansion opportunities.
Read: Criminals are coming after your bank account in South Africa
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