Olufemi Adeyemi
Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has identified account name discrepancies in Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) linked to the alternate accounts of certain former Heritage Bank customers. As a result, the payment of their insured deposits is being delayed.
Mr. Bello Hassan, the Managing Director of the Nigeria
Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), disclosed this information to the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
Mr. Hassan stated that the corporation had disbursed a
significant sum of money to depositors of the defunct bank, specifically those
without account-linking issues related to the Bank Verification Number (BVN).
He called on depositors of the bank who were yet to receive
their insured deposit credit alert to visit the NDIC’s website and complete
their verification forms for their payment.
The Managing Director mentioned that the verification
process will also include depositors who do not have a Bank Verification Number
(BVN) or an alternative account.
”We have already commenced the payment of customers since
June 6.
”We have paid a substantial amount to the customers.
”What we leverage in making the payment is the BVN of
customers. We trace alternate accounts in other banks and pay them their
insured amounts.
”There are some that we have challenges linking up because
of some discrepancies between the names and others.
”We are calling on customers that have not received their
alerts in their alternate accounts to come forward and complete their
verification forms so that we can pay them,” he said.
On payment of depositors with more than five million naira
with the bank, Hassan said they would be paid liquidation dividends.
As per his statement, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance
Corporation (NDIC) has initiated the process of divesting the physical assets
and concurrently taken steps to ensure the recovery of loans and advances
extended to the bank..
”That is what we use in paying those liquidation dividends.
”We are not going to wait until we recover everything, no.
”As we recover, we will also advertise to say that we will
pay liquidation dividends so that concerned depositors will be on the lookout
for alerts in their accounts,” Hassan said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced on June 3 that
it has revoked the banking license of Heritage Bank Plc. This decision was made
due to the bank's persistent failure to meet regulatory requirements and
improve its financial performance, posing a significant risk to the stability
of the financial system.