NDIC gives each of the former Heritage Bank clients N5 million.

According to the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, 82.36 percent of the clients of the now-defunct Heritage Bank have received their N5 million protected deposits.

It further stated that the majority of the 17.64 percent of insured deposits that are still unpaid are held by depositors whose accounts have orders to postpone debits or do not have a bank verification number.

This was revealed on Sunday in Abuja in a statement that was signed by Bashir Nuhu, Director of Communication and Public Affairs.
Heritage Bank Plc's banking licence was revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria on June 3, 2024, as a result of ongoing financial instability and regulatory violations.

Hunger protesters continue to bemoan the nation's worsening circumstances.
The apex bank states that the choice is in line with the CBN’s mandate under Section 12 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020, which aims to maintain a stable financial system in Nigeria.
The NDIC said that it would start paying the bank's 2.3 million depositors once Heritage Bank's licence was revoked.

In the statement released on Sunday, the director provided an update, revealing that four days following the liquidation, payments to the impacted clients began.

Bank Verification Numbers, he continued, were used as a special identification to find depositors' other accounts in other banks in order to accomplish this accomplishment.

A portion of the announcement said, "Within a record-breaking four days following the bank shutdown, the Corporation started paying protected deposits, up to a maximum of N5 million per depositor, in fulfilment of its deposit guarantee mandate.

This was made possible by employing Bank Verification Numbers as a special means of locating depositors' other accounts in different banks.
With payment of approximately 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."

The director informed depositors holding more than N5 million that, upon the realisation of the bank's assets and the collection of debts owed to it, the remaining amounts—which are categorised as uninsured deposits—would be distributed as liquidation dividends.

It is instructive to note that the majority of depositors with accounts that lack BVN or post no debit instructions accounted for 17.64 percent of the insured deposits that have not yet been paid. They are the others with no alternative accounts in other banks or accounts with a KYC limit on the maximum lodgment per day and are yet to come forward for verification.
In contrast, depositors with balances over five million naira have already received the initial five million naira insured sum; the remaining balances, which are referred to as uninsured deposits, will be paid as liquidation dividends once the defunct bank's assets are realised and its debts are recovered, the statement continued.