Banks operating in Ghana are excited about the Ghana card because it has simplified their operations and made things easier for them and customers, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has said.
“Today, the banks are very happy with the Ghana card because it gives all the KYC a bank needs”, he said at the 2022 Civil Service Awards ceremony in Accra, at which he justified his earlier comment that he would prefer the Ghana card to 1,000 interchanges because the former wields the power to transform the country and its economy.
“One of the problems we have had is for people to open a bank account but today, if you have a Ghana card and a mobile phone, you don’t have to fill any form at all”, he noted.
“You can just dial a USSD code and put in your Ghana card ID and a bank account would be open for you and you can start transactions immediately”, he added.
“So, we are bringing in financial inclusion”, Dr Bawumia pointed out.
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Comparing the situation now with transpired then, Dr Bawumia said: “When we came into office, the proportion of adults with bank accounts was less than 40 per cent; today, because of mobile money interoperability and the Ghana card, we have over 90 per cent of adults either having a mobile money account, which is interoperable with a bank account, or a bank account itself; and that is very phenomenal”.
The Ghana card is a valid verification document issued by the National Identification Authority (NIA) to Ghanaians and resident foreign nationals living everywhere for the purpose of identification.
The card bears personal information about the individuals whose identity can be verified at all times. The NIA National Identity System utilises three types of biometric technology for identification purposes.
These are the fingerprints unique to each individual in the form of digitised templates, and facial templates in the form of a digitised colour photo of the cardholder and the iris.
The card contains basic identification information including a photograph of the cardholder, along with a name, date of birth, height, and a personal identification number that has been randomly generated and assigned to the holder and has an expiry date.
