Ghana has drawn a hard legal line under the age of the photocopied ID: from today, any institution that copies, scans or simply eyeballs a Ghana Card to confirm who you are is breaking the law.
Main image: DGBN graphic.
The National Identification Authority (NIA) announced at a press briefing in Accra on Monday, 2 November 2026, that the three-month grace period granted in July by the sector minister, Muntaka Mubarak, has now run out. Enforcement of the National Identity Register (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 – known as LI 2523 – begins in earnest on Tuesday, 3 November.
What changes for Ghanaians
Under the new regulation, banks, telecoms operators and any other body that relies on the Ghana Card to verify identity must use biometric verification methods approved by the NIA. Holding up the card and comparing the photo with the holder’s face is no longer enough.
“Effective today, visual inspection is no longer acceptable per the dictates of LI 2523,” said Williams Ampomah Emmanuel Darlas, the NIA’s Head of Corporate Affairs. He added that any institution demanding a photocopy of the card as a condition of service would be acting against the law.
Crucially, nobody needs a new card. Darlas stressed that the existing Ghana Card stays in use, and that the aim is to cut fraud and impersonation – particularly SIM-card fraud, where criminals register phone lines with other people’s identity cards.
How verification will work
At telecoms outlets, checks will use a “Match-on-Card” system: the card is inserted into a reader and the holder’s live fingerprint is matched against the biometric data stored on its chip. The NIA urged the public not to resist when telcos ask for the physical card, describing the process as lawful biometric verification.
Banks and other institutions already linked to the NIA platform through its API can verify customers using the Ghana Card number and approved biometric devices.
Warning to unofficial resellers
The authority also turned its attention to firms reselling access to its verification platform. “We do not have intermediaries,” Darlas said, explaining that some institutions had been piggybacking on access granted to others. Those organisations were given until the close of 2 November to come off the platform or onboard properly, with the NIA warning that defaulters would face legal action.
To onboard legally, an institution must prove it is registered in Ghana, secure certification from the Data Protection Commission, and sign a contract with the NIA after technical integration. A Biometric Verification Implementation task force begins field compliance checks on 3 November.
Why it matters
Photocopies of national IDs left on bank counters and in phone shops have long been a gift to fraudsters across Africa. Ghana’s move puts it among the more assertive countries on the continent in tying everyday transactions to biometric proof of identity – a shift that matters for diaspora Ghanaians holding the card as much as for residents. The real test will be whether institutions have the devices and connections in place, and whether enforcement protects citizens’ data rather than simply adding another queue.