Great news for South Africans looking to get a new passport

There are currently 30 banks in South Africa that support smart ID and passport applications, with this number expected to see considerable growth by March 2026.

This service is the result of the eHomeAffairs programme that was implemented in 2016.

However, the rollout of the service to new bank branches has slowed in recent years after reaching 30, with the conclusion that a new partnership is needed to continue expanding these services.

The previous model required Home Affairs to supply staff and systems to bank branches, an expensive and unreliable arrangement.

This slowed the expansion and resulted in the programme stalling after hitting 30 branches.

Leon Schreiber, Home Affairs minister, has indicated that the new partnership will increase coverage fivefold and utilise the banks’ employees and infrastructure rather than rely on the department’s resources.

With this new system, South Africans should expect at least 153 more bank branches where they can get passports and smart ID cards by March 2026.

The Department of Home Affairs has signed Absa, African Bank, Capitec, Discovery Bank, FNB, Nedbank, Standard Bank, and TymeBank to its new digital partnership model.

eHomeAffairs bank plans

Standard Bank, South Africa’s largest bank in terms of assets, is the biggest participant in the pilot project and indicates it wants to expand the service to 20 more of its branches, more than tripling its current number of branches at nine.

FNB has said it plans to add 15 more branches, and under the eHomeAffairs pilot project, it has issued the most smart ID cards and passports.

The addition of these 15 branches will bring its total to 22, and it has also noted that it plans to increase the service to 240 branches by July 2026.

Absa has stated it will increase its six current branches to 19 in the short term, and Nedbank said it will use its existing network of six branches to stress test the system before scaling up with 20 additional branches by August 2026.

African Bank is one of the newer additions to the program and plans to bring the service to five of its branches by March 2026.

Discovery Bank, despite being an entirely digital platform, has also signed onto the programme, noting that it may offer the service at four or more of its offices.

The last bank to join the programme, Investec, remains to confirm its plans.

Below is a table of the 30 bank branches that currently offer the service, with addresses and contacts interested in taking advantage of the programme.