Ghana has made it compulsory for all businesses and institutions to verify national identity cards using a biometric smartphone app, banning the previously common practices of visual inspection and photocopying. The new rules, announced by the National Identification Authority (NIA), apply to the country's "Ghana Card" — a plastic biometric ID central to daily life in the West African nation, required for banking, SIM registration, and obtaining passports or driving licences. Organisations that fail to comply face fines of up to 24,000 Ghanaian cedis (approximately $2,100), while individuals risk penalties of up to 6,000 cedis ($525), as authorities warn that old verification methods have enabled criminals to impersonate cardholders.