The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has unveiled its toughest sanctions yet against customers who repeatedly issue dud cheques, introducing a graded penalty regime that includes a one-year credit ban and a three-year prohibition on issuing cheques for repeat offenders.
The revised directive, announced in a Dud Cheque Notice issued on September 7, 2026, marks a significant escalation in the central bank’s efforts to restore public confidence in cheques as a reliable payment instrument.
A Three-Strike Framework
Under the new rules, the BoG has adopted a “three strikes” approach, with penalties increasing sharply for each subsequent offence committed within a 12-month period.
First Offence: The customer faces a levy of 10% of the cheque’s face value, a formal warning from the financial institution, and reporting of the offence to both the Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs) and the BoG.
Second Offence: The levy increases to 15% of the cheque’s face value, with the same reporting and warning requirements applying.
Third Offence: The most severe sanctions apply. The customer is charged a levy of 20% of the cheque’s face value, barred from issuing cheques for at least three years, and banned from accessing new credit facilities from any bank or SDI for one year. The BoG will notify all banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) of the ban.
Operational Consequences
The directive imposes immediate practical consequences on offenders. Banks are required to notify banned customers within five working days and recall all unused cheque books. Customers who fail to return their cheque books within 10 working days face further escalation—the bank must report the matter to the BoG, which may then impose a ban on the customer operating any current account and add their name to a new Directory of High-Risk Cheque Issuers.
The BoG has warned that adverse reports to credit bureaus could damage a customer’s creditworthiness, potentially leading to higher borrowing costs and reduced access to funds in the future.
Compliance Obligations for Banks
Financial institutions are also under strict reporting obligations. Banks and SDIs must submit monthly returns on dud cheques to the BoG by the 10th day of the following month, including “nil returns” in months with no offences recorded. Institutions are reminded to continue reporting offenders to Credit Reference Bureaus in accordance with Section 25(c) of the Credit Reporting Act, 2007 (Act 726). Non-compliance will attract sanctions under the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930).
Why Now?
The central bank said the revised directive became necessary because the practice of issuing dud cheques continues despite earlier warnings. According to the BoG, this practice has undermined public confidence in cheques as a means of payment and posed systemic risks to the financial sector.
The BoG defines a dud cheque as “a cheque drawn on an account by a customer for which there are insufficient funds to pay the amount specified on the cheque.”
A Call to the Public
The BoG has urged the public to practice proper financial planning, verify account balances before issuing cheques, and account for pending transactions to avoid the sanctions. The central bank also encouraged lenders to utilise approved overdraft facilities or linked account balances before returning cheques unpaid.
