Insured deposits payment: NDIC tasks banks on regulatory requirements
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), has advised banks to comply with regulatory requirements especially on Bank Verication Number (BVN).
According to NDIC, the aim is to ensure prompt payment of insured deposits to depositors in the event of bank closure.
Mrs Pamela Roberts, the Controller, Enugu Zonal Office of the NDIC said this at the 2024 workshop organised for Financial Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) in Lagos on Thursday.
Roberts, also the Closing Manager of the defunct Heritage Bank, said that some accounts in the bank did not have BVN.
She said the development was one factor that had delayed the payment of insured deposits to depositors of the defunct bank by NDIC.
Roberts, while presenting a lecture with the title: “Effective Bank Closure: The NDIC’s Experience and Current Innovations’, also urged banks to properly document information of depositors in their banks.
She said the Corporation had closed no fewer than 651 banks since its establishment.
Roberts said the banks include 50 Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), 55 Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) and 546 Microfinance Banks (MFBs).
She described a failing bank as one that had difficulty in meeting obligations of its depositors and other creditors as well as one that persistently suffer liquidity deficiency.
Roberts said that some bank closure activities include pasting notices of revocation order in strategic locations around the bank and undertaking tagging of the bank’s assets and chattels, among others.
The controller listed some challenges of the Corporation in bank closing to include unfriendly bank staff, aggrieved/hostile depositors and creditors, volume of work and inadequate resources.
Others are insecurity, hostile environment through threats by bank owners and unseen/self closed banks.
She said that the Corporation initiated deposit tracer, Single Customer View (SCV), claims settlement through the Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) to ensure prompt payment of insured deposits to depositors.
Dr Kabir Katata, the Director, Research Policy and International Resources Department of NDIC, said that deposit insurance was for public good and not for profit making.
Katata delivered a lecture with the title: “The Path of NDIC Deposit Insurance Coverage: The Past, Present and Future” .
