The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has announced that 2.3 million depositors of Heritage Bank will receive their insured sum during the week.
Bello Hassan, the Managing Director of NDIC, briefed journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, two days after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revoked the license of Heritage Bank.
According to the CBN, Heritage Bank violated section 12 of the Banks and Other Financial Act as it failed to improve its financial performance, posing a threat to financial stability.
Hassan stated that compensating Heritage Bank’s depositors will help bolster confidence among depositors and promote financial stability. He revealed that 99.9% of depositors had balances of less than N5 million, with only 4,000 having more than N5 million deposited. He added that the total value of deposits is N650 million and loans amount to N700 billion. While acknowledging that the amount could be higher, he mentioned that the final sum would be determined after the liquidation process concludes.
Customers with a Bank Verification Number (BVN) will receive payments without verification, while those without a BVN will need to visit the nearest NDIC office or website for verification. He assured everyone that there was no need to panic, as all insured deposits would be settled.
“NDIC has assumed charge of the Heritage Bank.
“The bank has 116 branches and regional offices and we have deployed close to 400 staff of NDIC to take charge of the assets.
“If you have N100, we will pay you, if you have N5 million, we will pay you, if you have N10 million, we will pay N5 million for now because that is the insured sum.
“Depositors do not need to panic; you will get your money back.
“We will start payment of the insured sums by this week, but it will be difficult for me to give the time frame for the payment of the uninsured deposits,’’ he said.
The managing director assured bank customers that the system was safe and sound and they can confidently go about their banking businesses without worry.