E-Financial
BVN Enabled Us in Timely Payment of 85 Percent of Heritage Bank Depositors — NDIC
Mr Bello Hassan, managing director/CEO, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), has said that the use of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) facilitated the successful reimbursement of 84.98 per cent of depositors from the defunct Heritage Bank.
Hassan made this announcement during the 21st edition of the NDIC Workshop for Business Editors and the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN), held in Lagos.
The workshop, themed “Strengthening Nigeria’s Financial Safety-Net – The Role of Deposit Insurance,” was described as timely and pertinent, considering the rapidly changing dynamics of the global financial system and its impact on Nigeria.
He emphasized that the recent revocation of Heritage Bank’s license by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on June 3, 2024, serves as a clear demonstration of the NDIC’s critical role in protecting depositors and maintaining financial stability in the banking sector.
According to him, acting under the relevant provisions of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 and the NDIC Act 2023, the NDIC was appointed liquidator to manage the orderly resolution of the bank and oversee the payment of its depositors and other claimants.
He said in the discharge of this critical role of depositor reimbursement, the Corporation began the payment of the insured deposits of N5m maximum per depositor within a record time of four days of the bank’s closure.
This was achieved using Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) as a unique identifier to locate depositors’ alternate accounts in other banks without the need to fill out forms or visit the NDIC offices.
“This innovative approach has indeed, enabled the payment of 84.98% of depositors with BVN-linked accounts to date.
“The prompt payment of depositors, coming at a time when the Corporation had also recently increased the deposit insurance coverage from N500,000 to N5m in Deposit Money Banks, significantly cushioned the negative impact of bank failure, especially during the current challenging economic climate.
This achievement is consistent with the provisions of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) Core Principle 15, which emphasises timely payouts to depositors of failed banks,” he said.
Hassan said that having largely reimbursed depositors their insured deposits, the Corporation is committed to ensuring that depositors with balances exceeding N5m are also paid the balance of their deposits.
He stated that the uninsured deposits represent a significant portion of the total deposits in Heritage Bank.
According to him, in this regard, the Corporation is already working assiduously to ensure that, all depositors with amounts above the maximum insured amount of N5m 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 of the uninsured deposits of the defunct bank.
“Additionally, the NDIC’s responsibilities extend to the creditors of the defunct bank, who will receive payments after all depositors have been fully reimbursed.
“This orderly process, based on asset realisation and priority of claims, is essential in maintaining public trust in the banking system and promoting financial stability.
“The handling of the Heritage Bank liquidation illustrates the broader role of the NDIC in ensuring that even in times of financial disruption, depositors can be rest assured that their funds are protected,” he said.
Hassan assured that as the Nigerian financial system continues to evolve and face new challenges, the NDIC remains steadfast in its mission to protect depositors and collaborate with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in ensuring the stability of the banking sector, which is critical to the growth and development of the economy.
He noted that confidence is key in the maintenance of financial system stability and the role of deposit insurance cannot be overemphasized.
“As one of the safety nets, it reassures depositors, thereby instilling trust in the banking system and preventing bank runs during times of uncertainty.
“ Over the years, the NDIC has been instrumental in promoting stability by ensuring that when banks fail, depositors are protected, and their funds are reimbursed promptly,” he said.
Federal government has mandated banks and financial institutions to begin reporting monthly transactions exceeding N25 million for individuals and N100 million for firms to the tax authorities.
Under the new provisions of the Nigerian Tax Act, financial institutions are required to submit quarterly returns to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The agency will be renamed to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) from January 2026, when the new tax system will take effect.
“Every person who has an obligation to deduct and remit tax under this Act or any other Returns for tax legislation shall render monthly returns to the appropriate tax authority, as specified deduction of tax in the regulation issued for that purpose,” the Act reads.
“Without prejudice to section 142 of this Act, every bank, insurance company, stock-broking firm, or any other financial institution, shall prepare, with or without demand be delivered by the relevant tax authority, quarterly returns to the relevant tax authority specifying the names and addresses of new customers;Nigerian fashion trends
“…and existing customers in the case of (i) an individual, all transactions where the cumulative transactions in a month amount to N25,000,000 or more, or (ii) a body corporate, all transactions where the cumulative transactions in a month amount to N100,000,000 or more.”
Prior to the new tax law, banks were mandated to report deposits of N5 million — a measure intended to curb illicit financial flows, according to TheCable
Experts said the shift is part of efforts to tighten anti-money laundering reporting in the financial sector.
In 2023, Nigeria was listed on the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) over deficiencies in tackling money laundering and terrorism financing.
Since then, the country has been making efforts to exit the grey list, which subjects it to increased monitoring by the FATF.
In November 2024, Hafsat Bakari, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), said Nigeria has achieved upgrades in five key recommendations from the FATF.
Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBS) has revealed that the number of active bank accounts in the country increased to 320 million in the first quarter of 2025.
NIBSS also announced that the country’s cashless transactions rose to N295 trillion in the that quarter, up from N237.11 trillion in the corresponding quarter of 2024.
NIBSS disclosed this in its latest report on the country’s financial sector.
According to the data, the report highlighted the growing reliance on digital payments nationwide.
Details from the report showed that electronic payment channels were used 2.21 billion times in Q1, while point-of-sale, PoS terminals recorded 776.94 million transactions.
The NIBSS report corroborates ACI Worldwide data, which indicated that the volume of Nigeria’s real-time payment transactions will reach 19.7 billion by 2028, up from 7.9 billion in 2023.
“In Nigeria, real-time payments are quickly becoming a viable alternative to cash, historically the dominant choice for payments in the country,” ACI said.
Mr Wale Edun, minister of Finance and coordinating minister of the Economy, has inaugurated Mr Thompson Oludare Sunday, new managing director/chief executive officer of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), and Dr Kabir Sabo Katata, executive director (Operations), at the Ministry of Finance, Abuja.
Mr Wale Edun, minister of Finance and coordinating minister of the Economy, flanked by Mr Thompson Oludare Sunday, new managing director/chief executive officer of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), and Dr Kabir Sabo Katata, executive director (Operations),
In his speech during the occasion, the Minister submitted that the NDIC, as a component of the financial safety-net has a crucial role to play in the nation’s march to economic stability and prosperity.
He therefore charged the Management team to bring their diverse wealth of experience to bear on their new assignment while assuring them of the ministry’s full support in the task ahead.
Responding, Mr Sunday who spoke on behalf of the Management team, expressed appreciation to His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for their appointment.
He assured the Hon Minister of the readiness of the Management under his leadership to live up to expectations of the President in particular and the nation in general in the discharge of their duties.
The Management later received by the Corporation’s Head Office with a warm welcome by the workforce.
A statement signed by Hawwau Gambo, head, Communication & Public Affairs Department, revealed that Addressing the workers on behalf the Management team, Mr. Sunday promised to work in harmony with the staff to move the Corporation to its next level performance.
He stressed that the Management’s focus would be based on the public policy objectives, functions and mandate devolved on the Corporation by the enabling law that established it.
Thompson Oludare Sunday is a seasoned financial expert with over 30 years of regulatory and supervisory experience.
Having cut his teeth with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 1989, he went ahead to acquire high-end knowledge in Central Banking, spending 24 unbroken years in banking supervision.
While his vast experience is in the regulation and supervision of licensed institutions, his deep expertise span corporate governance, risk management and compliance as veritable tool for ensuring the safety and soundness of institutions.
He is a highly analytical and cross functional team worker with strong interest in building individual and institutional capacity for transformation and excellence.
Thompson’s skills and experience were horned by several key responsibilities and special assignments he handled for the apex Bank before his retirement as a Director 2021.
Kabir Sabo Katata, ED (Operations), is a quantitative energy strategist and computational finance expert with strong power trading and risk management experience.
He has over twenty-eight years’ experience in the design and management of technically innovative systems in multiple industries including telecommunications, IT, energy (petroleum & power), finance and government.
He is a specialist in sophisticated financial optimization, the application of modern statistical techniques and mathematics to energy, deposit insurance and banking sectors.
Dr. Katata joined the service of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation in 2012 as an Assistant Director in the Research, Policy and International Relations Department and rose to the pinnacle of his career as Director in January 2022, before his new appointment as Executive Director (Operations).
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