Some commercial banks in the country are turning away potential and existing customers who are using the new Ghana Card issued by the National Identification Authority (NIA) for transacting business.
But Public Relations Officer for NIA, Bertha Dzebley, has said banks are legally bound to accept the card together with other nationally accepted forms of identification such as the Voters� ID, national passports, driving license, among others.
Ms Dzebley, who spoke to CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE in a telephone interview yesterday said: �The NIA was established by an Act of Parliament to register Ghanaians and foreigners and then issue them ID Cards.
The cards issued by NIA are very accurate. We are therefore surprised that some banks are still refusing to transact business with the holders of the Ghana Card.�
Ms Dzebley said her outfit was unhappy with the development, stressing that the national identity card is legal and therefore the banks have to accept it for any form of transaction.
The public relations officer for the NIA assured that the Authority will meet the banks to educate them on the need to accept the new national card.
�We are in the processes of sourcing funds to acquire verification equipment (card readers) to enable institutions which would be using the card to check its authenticity.
Plans also are advanced to put in place an infrastructure that will link NIA to institutions that are mandated to use our data,� Ms Dzebley assured.
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