BoG to curb identity fraud through biometric verification

The Bank of Ghana is speeding up efforts to introduce biometric verification in the banking sector to combat incessant identity theft.

According to the Head of Payment Systems department at the Central Bank, Dr. Settor Amediku, the biometric verification if implemented will help boost personal identification security in the banking space, making it impossible for fraudsters to impersonate legitimate account holders.

Speaking to GhanaWeb, Dr. Amediku noted that Bank of Ghana is rolling out policies to consolidate all the payment platforms in the country including the mobile money space.

"Some fraudulent individuals have been opening accounts using the name and details of other account holders and doping them in the end. With the biometric verification that requires a finger print, even law enforcement agencies can easily identify and trace fraudsters," he said.

He added that the country's payment systems has caught the attention of international organizations encouraging them to invest.

According to Dr. Amediku, over 1.2billion worth of transaction was carried out in the mobile space as at the end of December, 2016, helping to reduce physical cash and inflation.

He added that the Bank of Ghana has reviewed the Act regulating the payment systems and will soon serve the Finance Ministry with copies.