{"id":237902,"date":"2021-10-26T13:48:12","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T12:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buzzsouthafrica.com\/?p=237902"},"modified":"2021-10-26T13:48:19","modified_gmt":"2021-10-26T12:48:19","slug":"can-you-get-smart-id-card-at-banks-and-how-long-does-it-take-to-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buzzsouthafrica.com\/can-you-get-smart-id-card-at-banks-and-how-long-does-it-take-to-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Get Smart ID Card at Banks and How Long Does It Take to Process?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In July 2013, a phase-out project for the old South African green identity documents, which serve as proof of a person’s identity, was introduced<\/a> by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). This was put in place due to the old ID card being frequently used for fraud and theft. As a result, it became insecure for individuals and the authorities as the green bar-coded identity book is easy to forge. The smart ID card, on the contrary, is extremely hard to forge. It has better security features. The physical security features on the body include laser engravings and holograms, while the logical security features include fingerprint biometrics and a contactless chip.<\/p>\n

The new card offering automated identity verification has drastically reduced the rate of fraudulent activities using the identity document. Following the inception of the smart ID card in 2013, some of the major banks in South Africa entered into a partnership with the Department of Home Affairs. As such, they started offering the E-Home Affairs service at a handful of their branches. In 2020, many other bank branches were added to the DHA’s list of partnered banks. As a result, there has been a significant increase in the number of smart ID cards that have been presently rolled out.<\/p>\n

Also, the bank partnership has helped to reduce long queues at the Home Affairs offices. Hence, making the smart ID card application process<\/a> less stressful and very easy to carry out, unlike before when it was more time-consuming.<\/p>\n

Which Banks Partnered With DHA For Smart ID Card Application and Rollouts?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 2015, the former Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, kickstarted a pilot program with only two South African banks for smart ID card applications and collection services. The First National Bank and Standard Bank were the banks that participated<\/a> in the programme for six months, from September 2015 to March 2016. With over 37 million smart ID cards needed to replace the green-barcoded ID booklets within a period of five to eight years, the Department of Home Affairs partnered with these banks to help accelerate rollout for the smart ID cards in a cost-efficient way. Currently, the number of banks offering this service has increased, including FNB<\/a>, Standard Bank<\/a>, ABSA<\/a>, Discovery Bank, Investec Bank, and Nedbank<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After the Department of Home Affairs’ first pilot programme with the banks ended in March 2016, the E-Home Affairs service was launched in the following month. As a result, South Africans started enjoying a less stressful means of applying for a smart ID card at the comfort of their homes. They were also introduced to more straightforward means of ID card payment on the Home Affairs website<\/a> using the online banking service. Afterward, the applicant can go to the nearest supported bank branch for fingerprints and photo capture. Once the ID card is ready for pick up at the selected bank branch, Home Affairs will notify the applicant via SMS.<\/p>\n

In addition to DHA’s bank partnership providing a convenient means of smart ID card application for citizens, it also provided wider service access points for the people.\u00a0In summary, the objectives<\/a> for the DHA’s bank partnership are listed as follows:<\/p>\n