Depositors of Heritage Bank to receive insured amounts within a week — NDIC
By Matthew Denis
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Mr. Hassan Bello, has disclosed that the Corporation will commence the payment of Heritage Bank 2.3 million depositors this week.
He made disclosure during a press briefing held in Abuja on Wednesday.
“We are appealing to customers of Heritage bank with a registered Biometric Verification Number (BVN) to go to their nearest branches Nationwide to claim their deposits.”
The MD revealed that preliminary sources gathered that the Bank has about N650 billion deposits and over N700 billion loans.
According to him, the Bank has about 116 branches nationwide and the Corporation has taken over its activities and deployed staff to the operational management of the bank who will attend to customers.
The MD reiterated that they will pay the depositors of the bank who are about 99.9 percent with their deposits below N5 million before attending to those few customers that have above N5 million deposits as stipulated by NDIC Amended Act of 2023.
This action, according to him, is set to significantly mitigate the impact on a vast majority of the bank’s clientele. However, for the approximately 4,000 depositors whose account balances exceed the N5 million threshold, an initial payout of N5 million will be disbursed as part of the first phase of payments.
Mr. Hassan clarified that these depositors would receive further payments as the NDIC progresses with recovering the bank’s assets and outstanding loans. The assurance was given in the wake of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) decision to revoke Heritage Bank’s operating license.
The NDIC Boss added as a regulator the Corporation has its legal team fully prepared for any matter that will lead to litigation.
The apex bank, in a statement released on Monday, June 3, by its Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi Ali, said the decision to revoke Heritage Bank’s license is in line with its responsibility to uphold a stable financial system in Nigeria and utilise its authority under Section 12 of the Banks and Other Financial Act (BOFIA) 2020.
This action, she noted, was deemed necessary due to the bank’s violation of Section 12 (1) of BOFIA, 2020.
Ali noted that the bank’s Board and Management’s inability to enhance its financial performance has posed a threat to financial stability.
