Capitec and FNB Partner to Offer Smart ID and Passport Services
Johannesburg – Soon, South Africans will have the opportunity to apply for smart IDs and passports at Capitec Bank and First National Bank.
During an announcement on Monday, 11 August 2025, Home Affairs Minister Dr. Leon Schreiber revealed that Capitec and FNB are the first banks to join the department’s new digital partnership model.
The minister highlighted that this model will broaden access to smart ID and passport services, increasing from the current 30 locations to hundreds of additional bank branches in both urban and rural areas across South Africa, as well as through digital banking applications.
Cabinet’s Medium-Term Development Plan assigns the Home Affairs department the goal of expanding services to 1,000 bank branches by the year 2029.
As part of this initiative, the Director-General of the Department, Tommy Makhode, reached out on 30 April 2025 to the Chief Executive Officers of ABSA, African Bank, TymeBank, Capitec Bank, Discovery Bank, First National Bank, Investec Bank, Nedbank, and Standard Bank.
Makhode extended an invitation for these institutions to partake in this groundbreaking, digital-first chapter of the Department’s ongoing collaboration with the banking sector.
“This partnership has been ongoing for over a decade and has, up until now, successfully provided smart ID and passport services at just 30 branches across five different banks,” the department explained.
“However, the previous model was dependent on the expensive duplication of Home Affairs personnel and equipment within bank branches, failing to utilize technology to significantly broaden access to services in both rural and urban areas with existing bank branches, as well as secure banking apps that are widely used in society.”
Minister Schreiber is set to visit Capitec and FNB this week to share more details on how this reform will benefit all South Africans.
This visit to the initial banks that responded favorably to the invitation will further strengthen the long-standing partnership between Home Affairs and the banking sector.
The department stated that this marks the beginning of the end for lengthy travel distances to reach Home Affairs services, long waiting times, and the green ID book, which has been unacceptably vulnerable to fraud and identity theft.
The department affirmed that this transition is a crucial step in the new digital-first era of public service delivery that the Government of National Unity is striving to establish.