NDIC’s Payment Delays Spark Concerns Among Heritage Bank’s 2.3 Million Depositors

Three weeks after the closure of Heritage Bank, customers of the defunct bank are alarmed over delays in the payment of frozen deposits by the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).
The Chairman of the Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, Uju Ogunbunka, made this known in an exclusive interview with Journalists on Wednesday. Ogunbunka said NDIC should not delay payments to customers of insolvent banks.
He explained that NDIC may be facing challenges resulting in delays in payments to customers of insolvent banks.
“Yes, customers have complained about delays in payments to NDIC. We understand that NDIC is working to secure payments. The issue is that we should not make hasty promises without fully examining the situation. It appears that NDIC is facing difficulties in processing payments. Perhaps this is the reason for the delay. Why else would NDIC delay payments? They have alternative depositor bank accounts. There must be issues that NDIC is trying to resolve to avoid payment errors,” he said.

NDIC spokesperson Bashir Hassan had not responded to our queries at the time of filing this report. Recall that NDIC had commenced the liquidation process of the failed Heritage Bank after it was canceled by the Central Bank of Nigeria on June 3, 2024.
To address this, NDIC had assured early payment to 2.3 million depositors of the defunct Heritage Bank a week ago. NDIC Director-General Bello Hassan made this known in a statement. He said 99.9 percent of account holders at the defunct bank had balances of less than 5 million naira, while only 4,000 account holders had balances of more than 5 million naira.

But two weeks later, account holders at the no-longer-existent bank are still waiting for payments, causing anxiety among affected customers. NDIC has assured account holders that payments will be made through alternative bank accounts linked to their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), but the delays are causing concern among affected customers.
Meanwhile, the Pension Transition Arrangements Authority (PTAD) on Tuesday called on Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) pensioners with pension accounts at the defunct Heritage Bank to provide details of their alternative bank accounts so they can receive their monthly pensions uninterrupted.