Head of Payment Systems at the Bank of Ghana Setor Amekudzi is calling on government and the National Identification Authority (NIA) to expedite the process in establishing the National Identification System.

Government has begun embarking on creating a single national ID system, which would, amongst others, issue drivers licenses and passports linked to digital identity registry, eliminate ghost names from the civil service payroll, and reduce cost of maintaining multiple identity databases.

Mr Amekudzi says the policy when rolled out will help clamp down on fraud in the sector.

“As a central bank, we realized that government wants to build a broad base national ID system, and then we need to collaborate with them.

“We believe that one of the surest ways of moving the entire financial system forwards is through this national ID system.”

He adds that the Central Bank has begun parliamentary processes to approve the Payment and Services Act into law.

“We realized that the previous bill could not address all the challenges in the sector and so we took the bold step of modifying the bill.

“Currently, the new act has been forwarded to the office of the Attorney General to be forwarded to Parliament for approval. Mr. Amekudzi spoke at an MTN-organised stakeholders’ forum on curbing fraud in mobile money transfers.