By Abiola Olawale
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has revealed it has disbursed 82.36% of insured deposits to the customers of the now-defunct Heritage Bank.
This was made known in a press statement issued on Monday by the Director of Communication and Publis Affairs, NDIC, Bashir Nuhu.
Nuhu, in the statement, declared that the NDIC is committed to safeguarding depositors’ funds.
The New Diplomat reports that on June 3, 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revoked the licence of Heritage Bank Plc due to the commercial bank’s “inability to improve its financial performance”.
Following the decision, NDIC said a maximum of N5 million would be paid to each depositor of Heritage Bank.
Giving updates on the recent developments, Nuhu, in the statement, said the payments of insured deposits above N5 million had begun after four days of the bank’s closure.
He also said the NDIC was working to reach the remaining 17.64 per cent of depositors.
The statement reads in part: “In the discharge of its deposit guarantee mandate, the Corporation began the payment of the insured deposits of Five Million Naira (N5,000,000) maximum per depositor within a record time of four (4) days of the bank closure.
“This was achieved using Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) as a unique identifier to locate depositors’ alternate accounts in other banks.
“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.
“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% of the total insured deposit to date.
“It is instructive to state that, the remaining 17.64% 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 KYC limit on the maximum lodgement per day and are yet to come forward for verification.”
Nuhu said the corporation is actively engaging these depositors through phone calls and text messages.
