The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) disclosed that it has commenced payment to depositors with balances of more than N5m following the revocation of Heritage Bank’s banking license by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on June 3, 2024. This development was made known in Abuja on Sunday in a statement signed by the Director, Communication and Public Affairs, Bashir Nuhu.
The statement reads in part, “In the discharge of its deposit guarantee mandate, the Corporation began the payment of the insured deposits of N5m maximum per depositor within a record time of four days of the bank closure.
“This was achieved using Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) as a unique identifier to locate depositors’ alternate accounts in other banks.
“This unprecedented achievement of direct payment through BVN-linked alternate accounts without the need for depositors to visit NDIC offices or fill out forms marks a historic shift for the NDIC in the prompt reimbursement of depositors with payment of about 82.36 per cent of the total insured deposit to date.
“It is instructive to state that, the remaining 17.64 per cent of the insured deposits yet to be paid were largely depositors whose accounts have Post-No-Debits (PND) instructions or have no BVN. Others are those with no alternative accounts in other banks or accounts with a KYC limit on the maximum lodgment per day and are yet to come forward for verification.
“However, depositors with balances exceeding Five Million Naira have been paid the initial insured sum of Five Million Naira, while the remaining balances (classified as uninsured deposits) will be paid as liquidation dividends upon realization of the defunct bank’s assets and recovery of debts owed to the defunct bank.”
