John Awuah, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Bankers Association (GBA), has expressed optimism that more Ghanaians will be able to obtain their Ghana Card before July 1 deadline day.
Commenting on the directive by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) which stated that only Ghana Card is going to be accepted as a form of identification for financial transactions from July this year, the Chief Executive Officer opined that at least the Bank of Ghana has made consultations. So, he is sure everyone will get the card before the deadline.
“We believe that between now till June people would have gotten their Ghana cards.
“Bank of Ghana is our regulator and before this directive comes out we would have done our checks. We have some months to July 1, so, I think efforts will be put in to complete the process.”
John Awuah
Mr Awuah indicated his outfit’s readiness to set the directive rolling. He also noted that BoG will be observing proceedings and the implementation of the directive.
“Bank of Ghana will be monitoring the process with which the NIA carries out its process. We are getting everything ready to validate and verify the cards when they are presented in our facility.”
John Awuah
Include Passport to the Directive
In the meantime, an investment banker, Kingsley Adjenku Hayford, has called on the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to collaborate effectively with the National Identification Authority (NIA) to speed up the issuance of the Ghana Card. He also urged the BoG to add passport to the requirement.
“Let us also look at passport as an alternative. If people are not getting their NIA Ghana card to do banking transactions, passport should be used. This is because, anybody who comes to Ghana and not a Ghanaian would have to use passport for the banking transactions.”
Kingsley Adjenku Hayford
BoG Directive
A statement issued by BoG said “In furtherance of its objective of ensuring the safety of the financial system, Bank of Ghana pursuant to Regulation 7 of the National Identity Register, 2012 (L.I. 2111), hereby directs that with effect from 1st July, 2022, the Ghana Card shall be the only identification card that will be used to undertake transactions at all Bank of Ghana licensed and regulated financial institutions.”
The institutions included in the directive are: Banks, Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions, Non-Deposit-Taking Financial Institutions, Payment Service Providers and Dedicated Electronic Money Issuers, Forex Bureaus and Credit Reference Bureaus.
In line with the directive, BoG explained that Section 30 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044) and Regulation 12 of the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations, 2011 (L.I. 1987), requested all financial institutions to take steps to update customer records with the Ghana Card.
“Customers of Bank of Ghana regulated financial institutions are therefore advised to update their records with their respective financial institutions with the Ghana Card in line with this Notice.
“For KYC purposes, the National Identification Authority verification transaction platform will be integrated into the Bank of Ghana’s financial monitoring platform. This is to ensure that all financial transactions performed within the ecosystem are linked to one identity and information, and unique codes for the transactions shared with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to facilitate the identification of initiators/beneficiaries for track and trace purposes.”
BoG Statement
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