If you have paid your Department of Home Affairs (DHA) fee by EFT and your banking app says the payment is waiting for authorisation, this page explains why that happens and how to approve it on FNB, Absa, Standard Bank, and Nedbank.
In Summary
When you pay a Department of Home Affairs (DHA) fee by EFT, such as the R140 Smart ID fee or the R600 passport fee, most South African banking apps treat this as a once-off payment to a new beneficiary. As a security measure, these payments often sit in a pending or approvals section of your app until you actively confirm them, rather than processing immediately. If your application seems stuck or your payment has not reflected, check this section of your app before contacting Home Affairs, since an unauthorised payment never leaves your account.
Why Your Payment Needs Authorising
South African banks apply extra security steps to once-off EFT payments made to a payee you have not paid before, which is exactly the situation when you pay a DHA reference number for the first time. Rather than processing the payment the moment you submit it, your bank places it in a queue and asks you to separately confirm, or authorise, that you intend to send the money. This is standard practice across South African banks and is not specific to Home Affairs.
This step is easy to miss because it happens after you submit the payment, not during it. Many people assume the payment has gone through simply because they entered the details and confirmed once, then wonder why their DHA application shows no payment received.
How to Authorise the Payment on Each Bank’s App
The exact wording and location varies slightly by bank and can change as apps are updated, but the general pattern is the same across all of them: look for a section covering pending, outstanding, or unapproved payments, separate from your main transaction history.
FNB App: Open the app and check the notifications or pending payments section, usually accessible from the home screen or the payments menu. Once-off payments to new beneficiaries typically require a one-time PIN (OTP) or an in-app approval before they are released.
Absa App: Look under approvals or pending transactions within the payments section. Absa’s app groups payments awaiting your confirmation separately from completed transactions.
Standard Bank App: Check the approvals section, sometimes found under notifications or the payments tab. Standard Bank may also send an OTP by SMS that must be entered to release the payment.
Nedbank App: Look for a pending or authorise section within payments. Nedbank’s app similarly separates confirmed transactions from those still awaiting your approval.
If you cannot locate the pending payment in any of these apps, check your notifications, including SMS and push notifications, since some banks prompt you directly rather than requiring you to search the app.
What to Do If the Payment Has Expired or Disappeared
Pending payment authorisations do not stay open indefinitely. If you took too long to approve it, the payment may expire and drop out of your pending list entirely, in which case no money has left your account and you will need to repeat the payment process from your eHomeAffairs application.
If this happens:
- Log back into your application on eHomeAffairs and confirm the payment details and reference number are still valid.
- Redo the EFT payment from your banking app.
- Authorise it immediately this time, rather than leaving the app before confirming.
- Keep your proof of payment in case you need to show it later.
Confirming Your Payment Went Through
Do not assume a payment is complete just because your banking app no longer shows it as pending. Check your bank statement or transaction history to confirm the debit happened, and keep the proof of payment reference. If your Home Affairs application still shows no payment received a few working days after you have confirmed the debit on your side, see our eHomeAffairs portal guide for what to do next, or contact the DHA toll-free hotline.
What You Cannot Do
- You cannot assume a payment has processed simply because you entered the payment details once. It is not complete until you separately authorise it in your banking app.
- You cannot rely on the payment reappearing indefinitely in your pending list. If it expires, you need to make the payment again.
- You cannot use a payment that never left your account as proof of payment for your Home Affairs application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my banking app say my Home Affairs payment needs authorisation?
Because it is a once-off payment to a new beneficiary, which most South African banks flag as a security step requiring your separate confirmation before the money is released.
How to authorise a Home Affairs payment on FNB?
Check the notifications or pending payments section of the FNB app. You may need to enter a one-time PIN sent to your phone to release the payment.
How to authorise a Home Affairs payment on Absa?
Look under the approvals or pending transactions section within payments in the Absa app.
How to authorise a Home Affairs payment on Standard Bank?
Check the approvals section, often under notifications or the payments tab, and be ready to enter an OTP if Standard Bank sends one by SMS.
How to authorise a Home Affairs payment on Nedbank?
Look for the pending or authorise section within payments in the Nedbank app.
What happens if I do not authorise the payment in time?
The payment expires and is removed from your pending list. No money leaves your account, and you will need to make the payment again from your eHomeAffairs application.
How do I know if my payment went through?
Check your bank statement or transaction history for the debit, not just whether the payment disappeared from your pending list. Keep the proof of payment.
My payment shows as paid on my side but Home Affairs says it has not received it. What do I do?
Wait a few working days for the payment to reflect on DHA’s side, then contact the DHA toll-free hotline with your proof of payment and application reference number if it still has not updated.
Does this apply to both Smart ID and passport fees?
Yes. The same once-off payment authorisation step applies whether you are paying the R140 Smart ID fee or the R600 passport fee through eHomeAffairs.