Collins Sefa In a major regulatory update, the Bank of Ghana has mandated the Ghana Card as the primary—and in most cases, sole—identification document for all transactions within accountable financial institutions.
The directive, issued in October 2025 and published on the Bank’s website on January 8, 2026, replaces the 2022 guidance and significantly tightens customer verification protocols.
The updated Supervisory Guidance Note (BG/GOV/SEC/2025/36) strengthens compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) standards, requiring all financial institutions to identify and verify customers exclusively through the Ghana Card. This applies to Ghanaian citizens, permanent residents, ECOWAS nationals, and foreign directors/shareholders linked to accounts in Ghana.
For digital channels—including mobile banking apps and internet banking—the Bank has enforced stricter verification measures. Identification must include biometric liveness checks, eliminating any risk-based leniency in online onboarding. Existing customers will be verified on a risk-based approach, with institutions updating their records using data from the National Identity Authority (NIA).
The guidelines also define exceptions for specific groups:
- Foreign non-residents staying less than 90 days may use valid passports with visa details for one-off transactions such as remittances.
- Foreign diplomats and dependents may rely on diplomatic passports or cards issued by competent authorities.
The guidance provides technical solutions for common biometric verification issues—from poor lighting to faint fingerprints—and establishes clear escalation procedures for “No Match” or “Failed” verifications. Customers without a Ghana Card face a 90-day deferral period to update their records before account activation.
Business continuity measures include the use of MECO devices in offline mode during system outages, with restrictions on withdrawals for customers without updated Ghana Card records. The directive also clarifies that linking a Ghana Card to a bank account has no expiry, while temporary measures allow Ghanaians abroad to use passports.
This sweeping regulatory update demonstrates the government’s commitment to fully integrating the national identification system into Ghana’s financial ecosystem, enhancing security, reducing fraud, and standardizing verification processes for all account holders.
