All 30 bank branches offering Smart ID cards and passport renewals

Over half the bank branches that support Smart ID card issuing and passport renewals are in Gauteng.

In addition, more than 83% of the branches are in the three most populous provinces in South Africa, while only about 56.3% of the country’s population lives in these provinces.

Many people will have to travel far to use one of these branches instead of a regular, problem-ridden Home Affairs office to get a new ID or passport.

Thirty bank branches support the eHomeAffairs system introduced by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) in 2016.

This facility enables people to apply for a Smart ID card or new passport to complete most of their application online and pay for it before making an appointment for biometric verification at one of their banks’ branches.

MyBroadband has repeatedly tested the service and found it to be highly convenient with an excellent turnaround time.

The system has been in a perpetual pilot phase, with rollouts happening extremely slowly.

While several banks have expressed interest in expanding the service to more branches, the deadline for finalising a permanent agreement between the banks and DHA has repeatedly been delayed.

Numerous MyBroadband readers have pointed out that their bank does not offer a branch near them with the service.

However, most of the supported banks permit entry-level accountholders to access the service.

These accounts can often be opened online with minimal effort and fee payments — a good option for those desperate to avoid a regular Home Affairs office or long-distance travel to reach a branch supported by their primary bank.

All the country’s biggest banks, except Capitec and TymeBank, have DHA-enabled branches in Gauteng.

Absa, FNB, Nedbank, and Standard Bank also have branches in the Western Cape.

Absa is the only one in the Big Four that does not have any supported branches in KwaZulu-Natal.

However, it does offer a branch in the Eastern Cape, alongside Standard Bank, while FNB and Nedbank do not.

Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Northern Cape residents have just one branch each — all with different banks.

Free State residents have no choice but to go to a regular Home Affairs office or travel to another province to use a DHA-enabled bank branch.

That would take an immense effort unless they live close to the border because it requires two visits — one for biometrics and a second for collection.

The table below shows the locations of the 30 DHA-enabled bank branches in South Africa and which entry-level bank accounts you can get to use their services.