All the progress made with smart IDs in SA means keeping up with all the smart ID-capable bank branches can be difficult. To combat this, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) today announced the ‘My Home Affairs Online‘ platform to easily plan a visit.
Since the DHA unveiled its new ‘digital partnership model’ last August, a great many branches have gotten involved. 372 branches, to be exact, with that figure expected to grow from the likes of Absa, Capitec, and the rest. The idea was to make smart IDs more accessible to residents, no Home Affairs required.
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But with 372 branches to choose from, choosing one may actually prove a bit difficult. It’s not always immediately obvious which bank’s branches offer smart ID services, especially with how fast-paced the rollout has been. My Home Affairs Online is meant to be the answer, offering real-time access to the list of participating branches.
The Department of Home Affairs announced the online platform at a media event at Canal Walk in Cape Town today.
“This new online service makes it easier than ever for South Africans to find their nearest participating bank branch and switch to the secure Smart ID Card. Every reform we implement should make our services easier to access, and this is another practical step towards achieving that goal,” said DHA Minister Leon Schreiber.
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Residents must simply visit the My Home Affairs Online website and navigate to ‘Locate a Partner Branch’. From there, they’ll be able to select their bank — Capitec, Absa, FNB, and Standard Bank are all involved — and enter their city, suburb, province, or postal code to find the branch that best suits their needs.
To that end, FNB announced today that it would accelerate the rollout. Thus far, it’s processed more than 14,000 smart IDs under the new digital model. That’s only with a handful of participating branches at hand. By year’s end, FNB plans to offer smart ID services at 240 of its branches around South Africa.
