The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has started paying customers of 46 microfinance banks whose licences were recently revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The NDIC also said it has paid 700,000 customers of the defunct Heritage Bank.
The Managing Director of NDIC, Oludare Sunday, disclosed this on Wednesday at a retreat for members of the House of Representatives Committee on Insurance and Actuarial Matters in Lagos.
How NDIC Is Paying Affected Customers
Sunday said the Central Bank of Nigeria revoked the licences and appointed NDIC as provisional liquidator.
“We are working on those. The CBN revoked the licenses, and we were appointed as the provisional liquidator. We have started paying depositors of those banks, and gradually we intend to cover all the insured depositors,” he said.
He explained that after paying the insured deposits, NDIC will recover loans owed to the failed banks and sell their assets to pay customers with balances above the insured limit.
“Our function as liquidator involves the payment of guaranteed sums. Thereafter, we go after those who owe the institutions and have not paid,” he said.
He said NDIC is working with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System to trace depositors through their Bank Verification Number. This allows automatic payment.
700,000 Heritage Bank Customers Paid
On Heritage Bank, which failed in 2024, Sunday said about 700,000 depositors have received their insured deposits.
He said many accounts could not be traced because they were opened before BVN started. Heritage Bank itself was a merger of several banks, including Enterprise Bank which it acquired in 2014. Other legacy banks include Guardian Express and Spring Bank.
He said some records had poor address details like “opposite filling station”, making tracing hard. He asked affected customers to come forward with proof.
He added that NDIC will continue to sell assets and recover loans to pay those with deposits above the insured limit.
Sunday said NDIC remains a key part of Nigeria’s financial safety net. He said recapitalisation has made banks stronger, but must go with good corporate governance and risk management.
According to him, more than 98% of depositors, representing over 281 million accounts in insured institutions, are fully covered by NDIC.
The CBN had revoked Heritage Bank’s licence on June 3, 2024, due to poor financial performance.
