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 are committing to roll 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.”

Figure 1: From left to right: FNB CEO of Public Sector Banking, Sipho Silinda, FNB CEO of Nav, Jacques Celliers, Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Leon Schreiber, FNB CEO for Points of Presence, Zibu Nqala, Director-General of Home Affairs, Tommy Makhode

Standard Bank Personal and Private Banking CEO, Funeka Montjane, said: “We are proud to be part of this forward-thinking collaboration that will save our clients time and make it easier to access essential identity services.”

Figure 2: From left to right: Director-General of Home Affairs, Tommy Makhode, Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Leon Schreiber, STD BANK Chief Exec for Personal and Private Banking , Funeka Montjane, STD BANK Head of Personal and Private Banking SA, Kabelo Makeke

For media enquiries, please contact:

Duwayne Esau – Spokesperson for the Minister Cell number: 077 606 9702

Dineo Molaba – FNB PR Lead, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Ron Derby – Standard Bank Public Relations Lead, Cell: 071 934 3746, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS, FNB, AND STANDARD BANK