The Bank of Ghana (BoG) says financial institutions must, within 24 hours of receiving a complaint from a customer regarding the capture of a payment card by an Automated Teller Machine (ATM), take steps to identify the cardholder and further work expeditiously to return the card to the customer.

The central bank, in a directive to commercial banks on June 29, said the move seeks to address the perennial complaints that emanate from the capture of payment cards at ATMs of regulated financial institutions.

“The objectives of this directive are therefore to provide for standard procedures in retrieving payment cards captured by ATMs and prescribe conditions for releasing, transporting or destroying payment cards captured by ATMs,” the bank said.

The BoG, in addition, asked banks to ensure they maintain the necessary protocols to safeguard captured card information prior to delivery to the cardholder.

“A financial institution shall take note and document all persons that come into contact with the captured card prior to delivery to the cardholder,” it said.

“Provided that a financial institution follows due process in releasing a card to a cardholder, a financial institution shall not be liable for any loss resulting from fraudulent or unauthorized transactions initiated with a card after the captured card has been released to the cardholder,” it added.

The sector regulator also directed banks to provide reliable avenues for cardholders to report issues of card capture and card blockage request.

It said a cardholder whose card has been captured by an ATM may lodge a complaint with the bank or financial institution and provide all relevant information to assist in identifying the cardholder.