Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber launched the new service on Monday during the Home Affairs Digital Partnership media event with FNB at Canal Walk in Cape Town.
The platform, available at myhomeaffairsonline.dha.gov.za, allows citizens to locate participating bank branches where Smart ID Card applications can be made.
The service will be updated in real time as more bank branches join the Department of Home Affairs’ Digital Partnership with the banking sector.
Home Affairs said the tool is part of efforts to make it easier for South Africans to replace the fraud-prone green barcoded ID book with the more secure Smart ID Card.
South Africans can now access Smart ID services at 372 participating bank branches across the country.
Since the Digital Partnership was launched on March 9, 2026, more than 500 000 South Africans have applied for Smart ID Cards through participating bank branches.
Schreiber said the online platform is intended to make Home Affairs services easier and more convenient. “This new online service makes it easier than ever for South Africans to find their nearest participating bank branch and switch to the secure Smart ID Card,” Schreiber said.
Schreiber said the reform forms part of a broader drive to improve access to government services. “Every reform we implement should make our services easier to access, and this is another practical step towards achieving that goal,” Schreiber said.
Schreiber encouraged South Africans still using green barcoded ID books to switch to Smart ID Cards by using the online service to find the nearest participating bank branch. “More than half a million South Africans have already made the switch from the fraud-prone green barcoded ID book through our banking partners. It has never been easier to join them,” Schreiber said.
Schreiber said the department’s broader Home Affairs @ home vision is aimed at bringing services closer to citizens where people live, work and bank.
“Home Affairs @ home is about bringing our services closer to where people live, work and bank, so that secure Home Affairs services fit into the lives of South Africans instead of expecting South Africans to fit into ours,” Schreiber said.
Schreiber said this approach is central to improving service delivery and restoring dignity for all South Africans.
–ChannelAfrica–
