The Department of Home Affairs is finalising “modalities” with respect to the second phase of its Smart ID pilot project with banks, a spokesperson told MyBroadband.

At the end of September 2015, the Department launched a pilot project with FNB and Standard Bank which let bank employees apply for their Smart IDs in specific branches.

The Department said it was in discussions with other banks, at the time, and FNB and Standard Bank planned to expand the pilot to include more branches.

The next phase of the project is set to kick off this month, with the banks testing an online component of the application process called the e-channel portal.

Once the pilot passes testing, the e-channel portal will be the first step connected citizens take when applying for a Smart ID – beginning their application online and then going into a branch to have their photo and fingerprints taken.

The Department said the “modalities” it was working on involved “finalising aspects” with stakeholders, specifically the banks.

Article sourced and reproduced from My Broadband.co.za