The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) in South Africa has initiated a successful collaboration with the nation’s leading banks to offer Smart ID and passport services, and FNB, one of the key banking partners in this venture, is eagerly looking to augment these services in conjunction with the government.
Earlier in April, the initiative that permits banks to house DHA satellite offices had its timeline extended through September 2023, a decision that FNB warmly welcomed. The bank expressed its intent to persist in its joint efforts with the Department to extend this crucial service to a larger number of locations or branches within its operational network.
In a testament to the effectiveness of this partnership, FNB reported that it has distributed more than 400,000 Smart IDs and passports through its branches since the program’s inception in 2015. To date, this figure breaks down into over 190,000 Smart IDs and approximately 230,000 passports issued across seven branches participating in the service.
Lee-Anne van Zyl, FNB’s head of Points of Presence, expressed her gratitude for the continued support from their customers in utilizing this service to receive their IDs and passports from FNB branches. She emphasized that this collaboration was instrumental in improving access to essential services with profound social and economic implications.
Van Zyl highlighted the importance of an identity document as a gateway to economic opportunities, such as employment, financial services, and mobile telecommunications. She further elaborated on the process South Africans need to follow to take advantage of this service at FNB branches.
According to FNB, the booking process for ID and passport documents is managed through eChannel, an online booking portal provided by Home Affairs, rather than directly through FNB. Once an application is submitted, customers can schedule an appointment for fingerprint verification at a selected branch.
Upon completion of the application process, customers will receive an SMS notification informing them when their document is ready for collection.
South Africans currently have access to this service at 27 branches. Here’s the breakdown:
- Standard Bank hosts the most DHA-supported locations with 9 branches.
- FNB follows with 7 branches.
- Nedbank offers these services at 5 branches.
- Absa provides services at 4 branches.
- Discovery Bank and Investec each contribute with a single branch.
According to Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, the department is looking to incorporate 43 additional offices at bank branches upon the signing of a Service Level Agreement (SLA) in line with a Public Private Partnership (PPP) memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Nedbank clarified that currently, only ID document applications can be processed at Nedbank branches collaborating with the DHA. However, they hinted that the SLA, once implemented, may broaden the services available to their clients, regardless of whether the bank branch is linked with a DHA location.
As the signing of the SLA is still pending, South Africans can continue to obtain their Smart ID or passport from the above-mentioned locations.
