Schreiber wants “thousands” of bank branches offering Home Affairs services

Key topics.Smart IDs & passports to be available at more bank branches.Home delivery option planned for ID and passport documents.Digital transformation to combat fraud and streamline services..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here..The seventh BizNews Conference, BNC#7, is to be held in Hermanus from March 11 to 13, 2025. The 2025 BizNews Conference is designed to provide an excellent opportunity for members of the BizNews community to interact directly with the keynote speakers, old (and new) friends from previous BNC events – and to interact with members of the BizNews team. Register for BNC#7 here..If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Jan Vermeulen.Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber says that he aims to dramatically expand his department's partnership with South African banks this year and increase the number of branches offering smart IDs and passports..Speaking with Izak du Plessis on Nuuspod, Schreiber said that for almost a decade the partnership has been limited to around 30 bank branches around the country.."This must become hundreds if not thousands of bank branches. I want every village, town, city, and suburb in South Africa to have access to Home Affairs services in a local bank branch," said Schreiber.."I believe this will reduce the pressure on our offices and alleviate the long queues. Not to mention greatly expanding our footprint.".Schreiber said another goal for 2025 is for documents to introduce a delivery option for documents.."It is already accepted practice that if you order a new bank card, it gets delivered to your home or office for a fee," he said..In addition to making Home Affairs' services more convenient to access, Schreiber said he wanted to use technology to further combat fraud and identity theft..Schreiber said any process that allows or requires human intervention opens the door for fraud..Read more: 🔒 John Matisson: Interview with go-getting Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber."It is only possible for someone to steal an ID number or engage in fraudulent activity like swopping out photos because the system has gaps that allow for human intervention," he previously told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs.."Until such time as Home Affairs has been transformed into a digital-first department, these abuses will keep happening."."Instances like these — and potentially much worse — will keep happening for as long as Home Affairs processes are manual, paper-based, and vulnerable to human discretion," he added..He also said that digitally transforming Home Affairs has been accompanied by cracking down on individuals perpetrating fraud in the department..Schreiber said there had been dozens of disciplinary cases and arrests in the past year, ensuring that people there are consequences for defrauding the system..The minister's commitment to expanding Home Affairs bank branches across South Africa comes after he promised on Twitter/X to "work flat-out" in 2025 to ensure all South Africans can get smart ID cards..Residents born in South Africa have been able to apply for years, but naturalised citizens and permanent residents have been left behind and stuck with green ID books.."Home Affairs will work flat-out this year to ensure that all South Africans are able to obtain Smart IDs as part of our vision to deliver Home Affairs @ Home," Schreiber said in a post on X..The Home Affairs @ Home plan aims to expand the department's partnerships with banks, introduce home deliveries, make smart IDs available to all citizens, and launch new online channels..The emphasis on making smart ID cards available to all citizens suggests that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) will allow naturalised citizens and permanent residents to apply for the document..The DHA has allowed naturalised residents to apply for the document in the past. However, they must first secure an invitation to apply from the DHA's director-general..In August 2024, Schreiber said support for smart ID cards was gradually being implemented for naturalised citizens. At the time, 280 cards had been issued, and another 697 were in progress.."Once the system has been adjusted to verify compliant applications, all naturalised citizens will be able to visit any Home Affairs office equipped with live-capture facilities to apply for their smart ID cards," he added..However, permanent residents in South Africa have never been allowed to apply for smart ID cards, and the challenges these residents and naturalised citizens face are a severe problem surrounding the DHA's plans to phase out green ID books..Schreiber and other Home Affairs officials have encouraged South Africans to upgrade to the smart ID card, warning that the old green ID book puts people at greater risk of having their identities stolen..Smile ID's 2024 Digital Identity Fraud report showed that the South African green ID book was the most targeted on the continent in fraudulently attempting to gain access to various services..This includes using stolen identities to open bank accounts and apply for welfare..Smile ID said national IDs were regularly targeted because they were the most common form of government identification and mandatory for most adults..Read also:.🔒 Home Affairs minister Schreiber wants to fix 'hostile' skilled worker visa regime🔒 SA Home Affairs launches nomad visa to attract remote workersHow Schreiber intends making Home Affairs SA economy's "growth facilitator".This article was first published by MyBroadband and is republished with permission.

Schreiber wants “thousands” of bank branches offering Home Affairs services

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