Getting a Smart ID in South Africa keeps getting easier. The Department of Home Affairs has announced that Absa has gone live with digital Smart ID applications, becoming the fourth bank to offer the service through the department’s Digital Partnership Model.
Absa joins Capitec, Standard Bank and First National Bank in the programme, which now gives South Africans access to Smart ID services through a network of 296 participating bank branches across the country, SAnews reports.
Rolling out branch by branch
As part of the launch, 12 Absa branches have been enabled to provide Home Affairs Smart ID services, with a further 60 Absa branches scheduled to go live before the end of 2026. Beyond its branches, Absa will also introduce an innovative mobile offering, Bank on the Move, extending secure Home Affairs services to even more communities.
The numbers show South Africans are voting with their feet: more than 385,000 Smart ID applications have already been processed through the Digital Partnership – achieved in just four months.
A faster, more secure ID for everyone
The partnership makes it easier than ever to replace the older, fraud-prone green barcoded ID book with the far more secure Smart ID Card – often while doing the day’s banking.
“Processing more than 385 000 Smart ID applications in just four months demonstrates that South Africans are embracing a faster, more secure and more convenient way of accessing Home Affairs services,” Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber said.
Schreiber said the rapid expansion of the partnership demonstrates the success of the department’s vision to “fundamentally transform Home Affairs service delivery through digital innovation.”
750 branches in sight
The rollout forms part of the department’s Home Affairs @ home reform programme, which aims to expand the Digital Partnership to 750 participating bank branches by the end of this year.
“Together with innovations such as Bank on the Move, we are bringing secure and dignified access to Smart ID services closer to where people live and work,” Schreiber said.
For millions of South Africans, that means one less trip to a Home Affairs office – and one more everyday errand that can be ticked off at the local bank. It is digital government at its most practical: quicker queues, safer documents and services that meet people where they already are.
Photo: commons.wikimedia.org
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