The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has announced tougher sanctions against customers who issue dud cheques to check the persistent rise in the practice despite earlier measures introduced to curb the offence.
In a notice issued on June 24, 2026, the central bank expressed concern over the continued issuance of dishonoured cheques by some customers of banks and specialised deposit-taking institutions (SDIs), warning that the trend was undermining confidence in the country's payment system.
The notice, numbered BG/GOV/SEC/2026/12, introduces a graduated sanctions regime aimed at deterring offenders and safeguarding the integrity of cheque transactions.
A statement issued by the BoG and signed by the Secretary, Ms Aimee Vyda Quashie and copied to The Ghanaian Times, said under the new directive, a customer who issued a dud cheque for the first time would be charged a penalty equivalent to 10 per cent of the cheque's face value.
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The customer would also receive a formal warning from the bank or SDI and be placed under surveillance for at least one year.
The statement said details of the offence would be reported to both the Credit Reference Bureaus and the Bank of Ghana.
"Customers who repeat the offence within a year of the first incident will face stiffer penalties. A second offence will attract a levy of 15 per cent of the cheque's value, accompanied by another warning and fresh reporting to the relevant authorities," the statement said.
For a third offence within the same one-year period, the customer would be required to pay a penalty of 20 per cent of the cheque's face value.
The BoG stated that beyond the financial penalties, a third-time offender would be prohibited from issuing cheques in Ghana for a minimum period of three years, adding that such an individual would also be barred from obtaining new credit facilities from the banking sector for one year.
The statement said although affected customers would still be allowed to receive funds into their accounts and undertake electronic transactions, they would no longer be permitted to issue cheques during the sanction period.
It said all banks and SDIs would be formally notified of such bans and required to recall any unused cheque books from the affected customers within five working days.
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The BoG warned that customers who fail to surrender their unused cheque books within 10 working days of notification could face additional sanctions, including a possible ban from operating any current account.
Such individuals may also be listed in a proposed Directory of High-Risk Cheque Issuers, which the BoG intended to establish as a reference database for the banking industry.
The directive further placed obligations on banks and SDIs to continue reporting all dud cheque incidents to Credit Reference Bureaus and submit monthly returns to the Bank of Ghana, including nil reports where no incidents are recorded.
According to the central bank, institutions that failed to comply with the reporting requirements or submit inaccurate information would face sanctions under the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930).
The new directive, the BoG said took immediate effect and replaces previous notices issued in March 2021 and October 2025 on the same subject.
