Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer NDIC, Mr. Hassan
Bello gave this assurance during a courtesy visit last week by the executive
members of the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) in Abuja.
Bello said the corporation started launched its capacity
building workshop for finance correspondents and business editors in 2002 as a
veritable means of building capacity in the media industry especially on the
workings of deposit insurance system in Nigeria as well as other topical issues
in the Nigerian financial services sector.
Ever since the commencement of the capacity building program
the symbiotic relationship between NDIC and financial journalists has remained
cordial.
He said through this platform, the horizon and knowledge of
deposit Insurance of members of FICAN has broadened while the corporation has
enjoyed robust and informed reportage of its mandate and activities.
“You have demonstrated such an understanding and support
that cannot be quantified. This means the collaboration has been a win, win
situation for both NDIC and FICAN. It is on this note that I want to commend
your entire membership in particular and the media in general for this
wonderful relationship.”
He said the desired level of knowledge of the deposit
insurance system in Nigeria among different strata of the banking public has
not been achieved, as evidenced by the result of a survey carried out by NDIC
in 2019/2020.
This is why he added, the corporation will continue to
collaborate with the media in order to Increase this awareness, stressing that
there is need for increased collaboration between regulatory agencies and the
media.
This he said is important because knowledge gaps by
reporters on the activities of most agencies has a way of eroding stakeholders’
confidence.
Also speaking, the executive director operation NDIC, Mr.
Mustapha Ibrahim commended the delegation drawn from the Lagos national body of
FICAN and the Abuja chapter for their efforts in maintaining the existing
relationship between the two bodies.
He assured FICAN of NDIC’s readiness for continued support
within the corporation’s tight budget.
The corporation is a safety to depositors in times of bank
failure.
For further clarity, the maximum deposit insurance coverage
(MDIC) per depositor per bank has progressively increased from ₦50,000.00 at
inception in 1989 to its current ₦500,000 per depositor per deposit money bank
(DMB). Similarly, the insured limit for microfinance banks (MFBs) and primary
mortgage banks (PMBs) in 2009 was increased from ₦100,000.00 to ₦200,000.00 per
depositor per MFB/PMB in 2010. However, in 2016, there was an upward review of
the deposit insured limit for depositors of PMBs to ₦500,000.00 in order to
ensure coverage of over 90 percent of depositors in that sub sector.
The Corporation has equally extended deposit insurance
coverage to the subscribers of Non-interest banking institutions, under the
sharia compliant banking services to the maximum limit of ₦500,000.00 per
depositor. In addition, the Corporation had developed framework on Pass-Through
Deposit Insurance Scheme (PTDIS) to protect the subscribers of Mobile Money
Operators (MMOs) with a maximum insured limit of ₦500,000.00 per subscriber of
this banking product.
It has been calling on all depositors who lost their money
in any closed banks to file their claims through the zonal offices of the
Corporation or any of the ten (10) agent banks appointed for the payment across
the nation.
The appointed agent banks are First Bank of Nigeria, United
Bank of Africa, Zenith Bank, Wema Bank, Heritage Bank, Union Bank, Fidelity
Bank, Polaris Bank, Unity Bank and Access/ Diamond Bank.