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Photocopying or visually inspecting a Ghana Card for the purpose of a transaction is now a criminal offence following the coming into force of an amendment to the National Identity Register Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2111).
The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Wisdom Kwaku Deku, announced on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, that the amendment had been gazetted, making biometric verification the only lawful means of verifying the identity of a Ghana Card holder during a transaction.
Based on the current value of a penalty unit of GH¢12, institutions that breach the law could face fines ranging from GH¢6,000 to GH¢24,000 upon summary conviction. Individuals who contravene the regulations could also be fined between GH¢600 and GH¢6,000.
The amended regulations prohibit organisations from photocopying or relying on a visual inspection of the Ghana Card as proof of identity. Instead, they require identity verification to be carried out through the NIA's biometric verification system.
The amendment follows a series of measures introduced over the past year to stop the photocopying of Ghana Cards because of concerns over identity fraud and the misuse of personal information.
In March, 2025, the Bank of Ghana and the NIA held a stakeholder engagement with the Ghana Association of Banks and all 25 universal banks on identity verification requirements.
At the meeting, the Deputy Head of Office for Financial Integrity at the Bank of Ghana, Mr Ashitei Trebi-Ollennu, said the central bank had never approved the photocopying of Ghana Cards, warning that the practice exposed customers to fraud.
The Head of the Legal Directorate of the NIA, Mrs Teresa Eson-Benjamin, also told participants that the Ghana Card was the only legally recognised identity document for banking transactions.
In September, 2025, the Head of Corporate Affairs of the NIA, Mr Williams Ampomah Emmanuel Darlas, announced that the authority was amending its regulations to introduce sanctions against institutions that photocopy or request copies of Ghana Cards, saying the practice increased the risk of identity theft.
The Bank of Ghana later issued a revised Supervisory Guidance Note, which took effect in October, 2025.
The guidance directs regulated financial institutions to use only the Ghana Card to identify and verify customers, including Ghanaian citizens, permanent residents, resident ECOWAS nationals, refugees and eligible foreign nationals.
It also requires biometric liveness checks for customers opening accounts through digital channels and restricts institutions from conducting transactions for persons who do not hold a Ghana Card, Non-Citizen Identity Card or Refugee Identity Card, except under limited circumstances.
Mr Deku explained that the latest amendment extends the biometric verification requirement beyond the banking sector to all organisations that use the Ghana Card for identity verification.
He also urged organisations that are not yet connected to the NIA's identity verification platform to begin the onboarding process to enable them to comply with the new legal requirements.
