The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) says it has commenced the payment of insured deposits to the depositors of the recently liquidated Heritage Bank.
In a chat with TheFact Daily on Thursday, the Director of Communications and Public Affairs of the Corporation, Mr. Bashir Nuhu disclosed that the payment commenced since on Thursday last week, with those who have N5 million and below in their accounts.
He said, the testimonies are everywhere, and that some of the depositors who have received their payment could confirm the true state of affairs.
A check by this paper revealed that the depositors are actually being paid their deposits.
A depositor, Tunde Bello said, “I got credited by NDIC with my balance with Heritage Bank Plc. Like I said, it is an NDIC insured bank”.
Another, David Abubakar said, “I am pleased to report that I received a seamless and efficient payment processing experience with NDIC and Heritage Bank. Notably, I was not required to complete any forms, and yet, I received a complete payment transfer into my alternate bank account”.
On his part, Albert Michael said, “for whatever reasons, I didn’t use my Heritage Bank account that much, so the closure didn’t bother me. Only a few kobos in it. NDIC transferred the kobos to my other account without my effort. That is how an efficient system should run. Nigerians need peace of mind”.
Ikenna Vitalis said, “NDIC has just transferred my little money trapped by the Heritage Bank as a result of their licence withdrawal by the CBN. Thanks so much NDIC for this. I’ve even considered the token gone. Nigeria can still work if all of us uphold integrity”.
Recall that when addressing newsmen recently in Abuja, the Managing Director of the Corporation, Mr. Hassan Bello assured that no depositor would lose his or her money.
He noted that the over 99 percent of the 2.3 million depositors who have N5 million and below in their accounts would be paid in full, while the about 4,000 depositors who have above N5 million in their accounts would be paid the maximum amount of N5 million, pending when the bank’s assets are recovered and sold.
According to him, preliminary assessment shows that the bank has a total deposits of N650 billion, while the loans are well above N700 billion, pledging that the Corporation would recover the loans to engender confidence in the system.
Mr. Hassan further disclosed that the bank has about 116 branches, and regional offices across the country.
