Renewing your smart ID or passport at a bank branch in South Africa

Moreover, the applicant must be a customer of the bank that owns the branch where they book their appointment. Absa did not immediately respond to queries regarding the Internet banking downtime. The outage map shows that the downtime is widespread, with the majority of reports originating from populated urban parimatch india areas. The basket for Absa’s Gold account, Nedbank’s Savvy Plus account, and Standard Bank’s MyMo Plus account works out to R153.50, R175.00, and R170.00, respectively. Therefore, the DHA must significantly increase its smart ID production to phase out green ID books anytime soon.

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• Transactions older than certain cut-off dates may even require the customer to visit the branch to inspect them.
• However, while many of the country’s banks are ready to expand the services to more branches, the DHA has delayed the process.
• “Our decisions are based on the latest consumer feedback, insights and trends,” the bank said.
• Furthermore, customers can also view their transaction record (a real-time update) up to six months prior (depending on transaction volumes),” Absa said.

During the department’s budget vote speech in July 2024, deputy minister Njabulo Nzuza said the DHA wants to issue 2.5 million smart ID cards during the current financial year. However, while many expected the department to announce further public-private partnerships with banks by the end of November 2024, no such announcement came. This is according to several reliable sources close to the discussions between Home Affairs and South African banks. Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.

The plan was to phase out green ID books when the DHA reached 38 million smart ID cards. Former DHA minister Aaron Motsoaledi sparked chaos among South African residents in June 2024 when he announced his department’s plans to declare green ID books invalid. “However, customers can still request statements older than two years,” Absa said. “All statements offered for the period can be accessed by the customer for free for that period,” Standard Bank said. Transactions older than certain cut-off dates may even require the customer to visit the branch to inspect them.

There are currently no DHA-supported bank branches in the Free State or North West province. In comparison, the Western Cape has five DHA-supported bank branches, KwaZulu-Natal has three, and the Eastern Cape has two. “You can only visit a bank branch once you have made an online application and booked your visit,” it says. Below is a screenshot from DownDetector showing the spike in outage reports for Absa online banking.

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The DHA currently supports 30 bank branches across South Africa, and residents in Gauteng are the most spoiled for choice, with 17 of them located in the province. The process consists of registering on the platform, selecting your application type, completing the relevant forms and uploading the necessary supporting documentation before making payment via your bank. However, it bundles a credit card and its rewards programme with the product. Online and app banking is now far more accessible to South African residents thanks to technological advances and the availability of cheaper devices to access online and smartphone banking platforms. To book an appointment at a bank branch, you must use the E-Home Affairs system.

“In the 23/24 financial year, the Department issued 2,822,236 smart ID cards to citizens aged 16 years and above, against a target of 2.5 million,” said Nzuza. Besides most naturalised citizens and permanent residents being excluded from eHomeAffairs, the pace of smart ID uptake was too slow to invalidate green IDs anytime soon. Booking online with the system requires citizens to visit the eHomeAffairs website and register.

For reference, the monthly account fees for Absa’s, FNB’s, Nedbank’s, and Standard Bank’s offerings range from R110.00 to R135.00 per month, with Absa’s being the most expensive. The DHA initially partnered with four of South Africa’s major banks, but it has since expanded the service to offer renewals and applications from branches operated by six different banks. South Africans looking to upgrade their green ID booklet to a smart ID card can book an appointment to do so using the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) eHomeAffairs platform. Furthermore, customers can also view their transaction record (a real-time update) up to six months prior (depending on transaction volumes),” Absa said. “Customers needing transactions older than five years are able to get assistance from their branch or banker,” the bank said. However, while many of the country’s banks are ready to expand the services to more branches, the DHA has delayed the process.

Capitec’s GlobalOne account works out the cheapest, primarily because its monthly account fee is significantly lower than the rest. Absa charges R7.50 for immediate payments up to or equal to R3,000 and R40 for instant payments over the R3,000 threshold. Capitec GlobalOne, while offering the lowest monthly fee, is the only one of the lot that charges for internal and external EFTs and debit orders. Capitec’s GlobalOne account’s monthly service fee is the lowest by a significant margin at R7.00 per month. DHA deputy director-general Thulani Mavuso said 26 million South Africans currently hold smart ID cards.

Payment for bank branch appointments works by loading your banking details on the eHomeAffairs portal and finalising the transaction through your Internet banking. Banking apps and online banking do offer an easier way to view transactions than email communication, ATMs, or visiting a branch, however, and they are great tools for personal banking. Nedbank said the ability to view transactions going back 5 years for transactional accounts meets the needs of the majority of customers. At the time of publication, 68% of the reported problems were related to online banking, while 29% of the complaints were categorised under mobile banking. FNB appears to have changed its fees for immediate payments in recent months.