Photocopying or visually viewing a Ghana Card for the purpose of a transaction is now a criminal crime under the National Identity Register Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2111).
Wisdom Kwaku Deku, Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the National Identification Authority (NIA), announced on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, that the amendment had been gazetted, making biometric verification the only lawful way to verify the identity of a Ghana Card holder during a transaction.
Institutions that violate the law may be fined between GH¢6,000 and GH¢24,000 upon summary conviction, based on the current value of a penalty unit of GH¢12.
A punishment of GH¢600 to GH¢6,000 may also be imposed on those who violate the rules.
Organisations are not allowed to photocopy or use a visual inspection of the Ghana Card as identification verification under the new regulations. Rather, they mandate that the NIA’s biometric verification system be used for identification verification.
Due to worries about identity fraud and the improper use of personal data, a number of safeguards have been implemented over the past year to prohibit the photocopying of Ghana Cards.
The Ghana Association of Banks and all 25 universal banks participated in a stakeholder discussion on identity verification standards hosted by the Bank of Ghana and the NIA in March 2025.
The Bank of Ghana’s Deputy Head of Office for Financial Integrity, Mr. Ashitei Trebi-Ollennu, warned that photocopying Ghana Cards put clients at risk of fraud and stated that the central bank has never authorised the practice.
Participants were also informed by Mrs. Teresa Eson-Benjamin, Head of the NIA’s Legal Directorate, that the Ghana Card was the only identity document that was accepted by law for use in banking transactions.
The NIA’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Williams Ampomah Emmanuel Darlas, declared in September 2025 that the agency was changing its rules to impose penalties on organisations that photocopy or request copies of Ghana Cards, claiming that doing so raised the possibility of identity theft.
A revised Supervisory Guidance Note was subsequently released by the Bank of Ghana and went into effect in October 2025.
According to the guidelines, all clients, including Ghanaian citizens, permanent residents, residents of ECOWAS countries, refugees, and eligible foreign nationals, must be identified and verified using only the Ghana Card.
It also mandates biometric liveness checks for consumers creating accounts through digital channels, and institutions are prohibited from performing transactions with those who do not have a Ghana Card, Non-Citizen Identity Card, or Refugee Identity Card, except in certain instances.
Mr Deku explained that the most recent change extends the biometric verification requirement beyond the banking industry to all organisations that use the Ghana Card for identification verification.
He also asked organisations that have not yet connected to the NIA’s identity verification platform to begin the onboarding process so that they can meet the new regulatory requirements.
Source: newsthemegh.com