Johannesburg – The Department of Home Affairs, First National Bank (FNB), and Standard Bank yesterday, 13 August 2025, launched a new partnership to enable South Africans to apply for their smart card IDs and passports via FNB and Standard Bank branches and on the FNB and Standard Bank mobile applications at a later stage.
FNB will be taking a phased approach to the rollout of these services and is committing to rolling out 15 branches immediately, 240 branches over the next year, and more announcements to follow as the project plan unfolds.
Similarly, Standard Bank will be adopting a phased approach, with 20 branches going live this year and 300 over the next year, with more to come by 2027.
Both banks will avail these services to all South Africans, including those who are not clients.
Minister Leon Schreiber said: “I am delighted that FNB and Standard Bank are the latest banks to partner with Home Affairs to expand the offering of our services across the entire country.
“This new digital partnership model that harnesses the power of technology will dramatically increase Home Affairs’ footprint and thereby bring us closer than ever before to delivering our vision of Home Affairs @ home.
“I am grateful to them for committing to demonstrate how we can resolve long-standing problems when we work together.”
CEO of FNB Public Sector Banking, Sipho Silinda, said: “FNB is proud of its decade-long partnership with the Department of Home Affairs.
“We have always believed that financial inclusion is directly linked to safe and secure documentation, and we are delighted to take our partnership with the DHA to the next level, by scaling our solution with more branches and reissuing via our App.
“We commend the Minister and his department for the vision they have shown and look forward to continuing to serve South Africans with professionalism and simplicity.”
