Heritage Bank: NDIC gives reasons for delay in paying some customers

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, has said that account name discrepancies in Bank Verification Number, BVN, linked alternate accounts of some defunct Heritage Bank customers is delaying the payment of their insured deposits.

The Managing Director of NDIC, Bello Hassan, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja.

According to him, the corporation had paid a substantial amount to depositors of the defunct bank without BVN account-linked issues.

Hassan urged 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 noted that the verification would also include depositors without a BVN alternate 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.

He said that NDIC has already begun the process of disposing of the physical buildings and also set the process in motion to make sure that we recover the loans and advances that were granted by 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 look out for alerts in their accounts,” Hassan said.

Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on June 3 revoked the banking licence of Heritage Bank Plc.

The apex bank said the decision was made due to the bank’s failure to improve its financial performance, posing a threat to financial stability.