Heritage Bank: Why We Have Not Paid Some Customers — NDIC

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC said that some customers of the defunct Heritage Bank have not been paid the insured part of their deposit due to factors including inconsistencies in the database of the bank.

Managing Director, NDIC, Mr. Bello Hassan disclosed this in a keynote address at the 2024 NDIC Editors Forum in Lagos, saying the Corporation is working to resolve these challenges to ensure the depositors are promptly paid.

He said: “I wish to reiterate that the Corporation is not unaware of the case of some depositors who are yet to access their guaranteed sums. This development is a result of reasons ranging from reconciling inconsistencies in the defunct bank’s depositor’s database to the absence of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), placement of restrictions on some accounts and in some cases name mismatch. The Corporation is therefore working assiduously to resolve these challenges to ensure that depositors are promptly paid. I would like to seize this opportunity to emphasise the importance for depositors to ensure strict compliance with all Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations as prescribed by the CBN. This will not only promote hitch-free transactions with their banks, but it will also go a long way in ensuring prompt reimbursement in the event of bank closure.

Speaking further, Hassan said: “Having largely reimbursed depositors their insured deposits, the Corporation is committed to ensuring that depositors with balances exceeding N5 million are also paid the balance of their deposits. “These uninsured deposits represent a significant portion of the total deposits in Heritage Bank.

“In this regard, the Corporation is already working assiduously to ensure that depositors with amounts over the maximum insured amount of N5 million are paid through liquidation dividends from the realisation of the defunct bank’s assets and recovery of debts.

“The Corporation has already initiated the process of debt recovery and realisation of investments and physical assets of the defunct bank to ensure timely payment to the uninsured deposits of the defunct bank.”