Abdulwahab Isa 
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) on Sunday said it has paid depositors of revoked Heritage Bank with balances exceeding N5 million , the initial insured sum.
It restated that the remaining balances (classified as uninsured deposits) will be paid as liquidation dividends upon realization of the defunct bank’s assets and recovery of debts owed to the defunct bank.
The corporation confirmed the update in a statement issued by the Director of Public Affairs department, Bashir A. Nuhu.
NDIC put reimbursement thus far at
82.36% of the total insured deposit to date.
“This unprecedented achievement of direct payment through BVN-linked alternate accounts without the need for depositors to visit NDIC offices or fill out forms, marks a historic shift for the NDIC in the prompt reimbursement of depositors with payment of about 82.36% of the total insured deposit to date”, it said.
It disclosed the remaining 17.64% of the insured deposits yet to be paid were largely depositors whose accounts had post no debits (PND) instructions or have no BVN.
It noted that others were those with no alternative accounts in other banks or accounts with KYC limit on the maximum lodgment per day and are yet to come forward for verification.
“These category of depositors, NDIC said were presently being contacted by the Corporation through telephone calls and text messages to come forward for verification.
“Notwithstanding, the significant progress recorded in the payment of the insured deposits, we are however, not unmindful of the uninsured deposits which constitute the larger portion of the total deposits of the defunct bank.
“In this regard, the Corporation is already working assiduously to ensure that all depositors with amounts in excess of the maximum insured amount of N5 million are timely paid through liquidation dividend from realisation of the defunct bank’s assets.
“The Corporation has already initiated the process of debt recovery and realisation of investments and physical assets of the defunct bank to ensure timely reimbursement of the uninsured depositors of the defunct bank”.
“Subsequently, after the full payment of both insured and uninsured portion of deposits, the Corporation will proceed with the payment of creditors in accordance with priority of claim as provided in the extant law.
“We will like to reiterate that, all payments other than that of insured deposits, are subject to availability and realisation of assets of the bank in the form of liquidation dividend”, it disclosed..
Following the revocation of Heritage Bank’s banking license by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on June 3, 2024, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) was appointed as liquidator and the Corporation, in accordance with Section 12(2) of BOFIA 2020 and Section 55 subsections 1 & 2 of the NDIC Act 2023, immediately commenced the process of verification and payment to insured depositors.
In discharge of its deposit guarantee mandate, the Corporation began the payment of the insured deposits of Five Million Naira (N5,000,000) maximum per depositor within a record time of four (4) days of the bank closure.
“This was achieved using Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) as a unique identifier to locate depositors’ alternate accounts in other banks.
