The South African Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber says South Africa’s major banks have committed to rolling out Smart ID Card services to at least 840 more branches in the next 12 months, sounding the death knell of the Green ID book.
The minister announced that Discovery Bank is the latest local bank to join an ambitious new digital partnership in the country that will see Smart ID and passport services rolled out to hundreds more branches.
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He announced on Monday (11 August) that the DHA had officially launched the partnership, with Capitec and FNB being the first to join.
This was followed by further announcements on Tuesday and Wednesdays that more banks had signed on, including Standard Bank, Absa, and now Discovery Bank.
With FNB, Capitec and Standard Bank alone, South Africans should be able to access Home Affairs services at 840 more branches by this time next year.
Schreiber said that the department had been courting the banks since April 2025 to join a new digital-first rollout of Smart ID and passport services to South Africans at large.
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The director general of Home Affairs wrote to the CEOs of Absa, African Bank, TymeBank, Capitec, Discovery Bank, FNB, Investec, Nedbank, and Standard Bank, inviting them to join the move.
Until now, only five banks (Absa, Discovery, FNB, Nedbank and Standard Bank) had been offering these services in satellite DHA offices set up in 30 branches.
The minister pointed out that this “old system”, which was part of a decades-old pilot project with the banks, was cumbersome and costly, duplicating systems and staff contingents at these branches.
In previous correspondence with the banks about the pilot project, and why it was not expanding, the banks often pointed to this, as well as system downtime and resultant reputational damage, and big impediments.
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However, with system upgrades to the Online Verification Service (OVS) and plans to integrate directly into banking systems and banking apps, many of these hurdles can now be cleanly overcome.
The rollout of DHA services across the country is fundamental to Schreiber’s medium-term goal of ending the issuance of and ultimately discontinuing the Green ID book in South Africa.
He has long held that the old document poses a national security risk for the country because of how easy it is to fraudulently acquire one.
This is thanks to a combination of older and ineffective security on the booklet itself, as well as corruption among DHA employees and criminal syndicates who have perpetrated the fraud.
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The minister said South Africa’s Green ID books are the most defrauded form of identity document in Africa, with many of the stories related to identity theft often including them.
According to the minister, 18 million people still have green ID books, and the goal is to get new Smart IDs in their hands by the end of 2029.
He has laid out a clear timeline for ending the document in the country:
1. Roll out new live capture system to remaining Home Affairs departments in 2025
2. Roll out the live capture system and onboard 100 more bank branches by March 2026
3. Stop issuing green ID books by the end of the year
4. Roll out the live capture system and onboard 1000 more bank branches by March 2028
5. Discontinue the green ID book by end of 2029
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With 840 bank branches rolling out over the next 12 months — and more to come with other banks likely joining — the department might hit its target sooner than expected.
Capitec alone has committed to launching services at 10 bank branches from October 2025, increasing this to 100 branches by early 2026.
Absa’s branch commitment is yet to be counted in the tally, and other banks with branch networks (African Bank and Investec) could still come on board.
