The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has introduced revised supervisory guidelines making the Ghana Card the primary—and in most cases the sole—form of identification for all banking transactions within accountable financial institutions.
The new directive, issued in October 2025 and published on the Bank of Ghana’s website on January 8, 2026, replaces the 2022 guidelines and takes immediate effect. It introduces stricter verification requirements for both new and existing customers, including foreign directors, shareholders, and non-resident account signatories.
According to the revised Supervisory Guidance Note, the directive reinforces compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) obligations. It clarifies the provisions of Bank of Ghana Notice Number BG/GOV/SEC/2025/36, issued on November 13, 2025, and seeks to strengthen identity verification across the financial sector.
The guidance explicitly states that all accountable institutions must use only the Ghana Card to identify and verify customers during account opening. This requirement applies to Ghanaian citizens, Ghanaians living abroad, permanent residents, and resident ECOWAS nationals.
For the first time, the Ghana Card requirement has also been extended to foreign directors, shareholders, and non-residents who are signatories to bank accounts during the onboarding process. This marks a significant tightening of the identification framework for individuals associated with financial accounts in Ghana.
The document outlines different verification procedures based on customer category and transaction type. For digital onboarding through mobile applications and internet banking—classified as high-risk channels for money laundering and terrorist financing—the identification process is no longer risk-based. Financial institutions are required to conduct biometric liveness checks alongside the collection of all mandatory KYC information.
Existing customers will be verified using a risk-based approach, with banks required to update customer records using data from the National Identification Authority (NIA). The guidelines clearly state that customers who have not registered for the Ghana Card, Non-Citizen Identity Card, or Refugee Identity Card will not be allowed to conduct any financial transactions.
Specific exemptions and provisions are included. Foreign non-residents staying in Ghana for less than 90 days and undertaking one-off transactions, such as remittances, may use a valid international passport, provided they also submit visa details and proof of entry. Foreign diplomats and their dependents may continue to use diplomatic passports or identification cards issued by relevant authorities.
The guidance also provides technical direction for handling failed biometric verifications, identifying common causes such as poor lighting, faulty camera lenses, or unclear fingerprints. It establishes an escalation process for unresolved verification issues, including referrals to the NIA. New customers with unresolved verification problems are given up to 90 days to update their records before their accounts become fully operational.
To ensure business continuity, financial institutions are instructed to use specialised MECO devices in offline mode during system downtimes. However, in such cases, only deposit transactions are permitted for third parties and existing customers who do not have their physical Ghana Card available.
Transitional provisions clarify that linking a Ghana Card to a bank account does not expire. Ghanaians living abroad who do not yet have access to the Ghana Card may temporarily use their passports. Third-party deposits into accounts of customers who have not updated their records are allowed, but debit withdrawals will not be permitted. Members of the Diplomatic Corps remain exempt and may use foreign passports in line with national regulations.
Overall, the new guidelines reflect the government’s commitment to fully integrating the national identification system into Ghana’s financial sector, with the aim of enhancing security, reducing fraud, and improving the efficiency of customer verification processes nationwide.
Source: Yen.com.gh
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