Heritage bank: Will Nigerians lose their money as CBN withdraws licence?
Credit: Channels
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday, June 3rd, revoked the license of Heritage Bank Plc, raising concerns for its numerous customers.
According to the CBN, Heritage Bank violated Section 12(1) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) (BOFIA) 2020, leading to its irreversible revocation.
In a statement signed by the CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, the event became necessary as “The Board and Management of the bank have not been able to improve the bank’s financial performance, a situation which constitutes a threat to financial stability.”
This follows a period during which the CBN engaged with the bank and prescribed various supervisory steps intended to stem the decline. Regrettably, the bank has continued to suffer and has no reasonable prospects of recovery, thereby making the revocation of the license the next necessary step.
Following this development, the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) was appointed by the CBN as the liquidator of the bank in accordance with Section 12(2) of BOFIA 2020.
The NDIC on June 3rd began the liquidation process, including the immediate payment of insured bank deposits.
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Will Nigerians lose their money? Here’s what you need to know:
Nigerians will not lose their money, although it might take a while to recover all if they have above 5 million naira, which is the insured deposit. All depositors will recover their funds up to the limit of 5 million naira. However, depositors with funds above 5 million naira would have to wait until the liquidation process is over to get the remainder of their funds.
In a statement released by NDIC, it stated that “Depositors of the bank that have alternate accounts within the industry will be paid up to the insured amount of 5 million naira per depositor using their Bank Verification Number (BVN) to locate their alternate account. While depositors with funds in excess of 5 million naira will be paid a liquidation dividend upon realization of the bank’s assets and recovery of debts owed to the bank.”
All depositors without an alternate bank account are required to go to the nearest Heritage Bank branch with proof of account ownership, a verifiable means of identification such as a driver’s license, permanent voter’s card, or National Identity Card, together with their alternate account and Bank Verification Number (BVN) in order to get access to their insured funds, or file an online claim on the NDIC website.
Creditors are also required to visit a Heritage Bank branch or file online claim to receive their funds.
