The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has directed banks to allow non-resident Ghanaians who cannot access the Ghana Card to use their passports to access banking transactions until such a time that the facility will be made available to them.

This is coming after the Central Bank enforced the July 1, 2022 directive that resident Ghanaians cannot undertake banking transactions without linking one’s Ghana Card to bank accounts.

However, linking a Ghana Card to the bank account does not have an expiry date.

The Central Bank also pointed out that deposits (cash, cheque, transfers) into accounts of customers who have not updated their records with the Ghana Card should be allowed by financial institutions.

The BoG clarified that no debit withdrawal should be placed on such accounts.

In line with the National Identity Registration Regulation L.I. 2111(2) which exempts Diplomatic Corps from usage of the Ghana Card, members of the Diplomatic Corps, the Central Bank, said should be allowed to use the foreign passport as a means of identification for banking transactions.

The National Identity Register Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2111) mandates the use of the National Identity Card commonly known as the “Ghana Card” for all banking transactions where identification is required.

According to the verification procedures, Accountable Institutions (AIs) shall use only the Ghana Card to identify and verify all customers including Ghanaian Citizens living in Ghana and abroad, permanent residents, ECOWAS nationals who are residents, foreign directors/shareholders and non-residents for on-boarding (account opening).