The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Company (NDIC) has announced plans to pay the first liquidated dividend to Heritage Bank depositors starting in April this year. This is the revocation of the Heritage Bank’s operating license by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on June 3, 2024.
Mr. Bello Hassan, Managing Director of NDIC, announced this at the 36th Enugu International Trade Fair held at the NDIC Special Festival on Wednesday, April 9. He is represented by Mrs. Pamela Robert, Southeastern Coordinator of NDIC.
Hassan reiterated the company’s commitment to stability in the financial system and noted that NDIC is working closely with CBN to ensure strict compliance with banking regulations and effective supervision of insured deposit institutions. He revealed that preparations for the payment of the first liquidation dividend to the estate bank depositors have begun.
He assured the depositor that NDIC has financial and operational capabilities to repay all affected customers as a result of asset recovery. The method involves paying insurance deposits while simultaneously recovering the loan and realizing bank assets to ensure there are no depositors who don’t stay.
Hassan noted that NDIC had a good record in bank clearing and successfully paid full liquidation dividends to depositors of 20 previously failed banks. He said this proves the company’s dedication to depositor protection and its effectiveness in managing bank failures.
He encouraged depositors who close the estate bank to have not received payments to provide necessary documents, including their bank verification number (BVN) and alternative bank account number. Claims can be submitted via the NDIC website, email, social media platform or access to any regional office.
Hassan highlighted the rapid response to the revocation of the estate bank licence, saying that NDIC immediately began the liquidation process and paid for the insured deposits (up to 5 million guild per depositor) for four days. He noted that most depositors use their BVN payments to identify alternative bank accounts.
However, he explained that some depositors have not received payments due to the lack of BVN or alternative bank accounts, NO DEBIT (PND) restrictions, understanding your customer (KYC) restrictions or name mismatch. He added that some depositors may also not be aware of payment due to the lack of transaction alerts.
Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Chief President of Industry, Mining and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Odeiga Jideonwo, praised NDIC’s role in stabilizing the financial sector. He called for increased pay levels for bank failure depositors and urged NDIC to consider raising payments based on each client’s total deposit.
Jideonwo also called on CBN to strengthen its regulatory framework to reduce the incidence of bank failures and protect depositors from the trauma of losing their funding opportunities.
