Photocopying Ghana Card now prohibited for transactions as NIA enforces new identity rules

• Biometric verification is now mandatory for Ghana Card transactions.

• Organisations and individuals who breach the new rules face penalties under the amended law.

• The changes took effect after the amended LI 2111 was gazetted.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Wisdom Yayra Koku Deku, announced the changes in a statement via social media after the amendment to Legislative Instrument (LI) 2111, which was introduced in Parliament three months ago, was gazetted.

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"It is now an offence to photocopy or visually inspect a Ghana Card for the purpose of transaction. Biometric verification is now mandatory," the statement said.

According to Mr. Deku, organisations can no longer rely on photocopies or visual inspection of the Ghana Card to verify a person's identity when conducting transactions. Instead, all identity verification for transactions must be carried out through biometric authentication.

He warned that institutions that fail to comply with the new requirement would be committing an offence under the law.

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"An organization that contravenes this order commits an offence and faces a fine of at least 500 penalty units and up to 2,000 units on summary conviction."

The statement added that individuals who violate the regulations also face penalties ranging from 50 to 500 penalty units.

Explaining how the changes came into effect, Mr. Deku said the amendment had completed the required legislative process.

"This follows the maturity of the LI 2111 amendment, which was introduced in Parliament three months ago and gazetted today."

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He added that further details on implementing the new requirements would be communicated by the sector minister.

In the meantime, Mr. Deku encouraged organisations that require identity verification services to begin integrating with the NIA's digital verification platform.

The amendment is the latest in a series of measures introduced to curb the photocopying of Ghana Cards amid concerns over identity fraud and the misuse of personal data.

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In March 2025, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the National Identification Authority engaged the Ghana Association of Banks and all 25 universal banks on identity verification requirements. During the meeting, the central bank clarified that it had never authorised the photocopying of Ghana Cards, while the NIA reiterated that the Ghana Card is the only legally recognised identity document for banking transactions.

By September 2025, the NIA announced plans to amend the Identity Register Regulations to introduce sanctions against institutions that photocopy or request copies of the Ghana Card.

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The Bank of Ghana subsequently issued a revised Supervisory Guidance Note, which took effect in October 2025, directing banks to rely exclusively on the Ghana Card, the Non-Citizen Identity Card and the Refugee Identity Card for customer identification. The guidance also made biometric liveness verification mandatory for digital account opening to strengthen identity verification and reduce the risk of identity fraud.

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The latest amendment to LI 2111 reinforces those earlier measures by making biometric verification mandatory for transactions involving the Ghana Card and introducing penalties for organisations and individuals who continue to rely on photocopies or visual inspection instead of the approved verification process.