The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has said the enhanced deposit insurance coverage limits introduced in 2024 now provide full protection for more than 98 percent of depositors across insured financial institutions.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive of the NDIC, Thompson Oludare Sunday, disclosed this on Wednesday at the Corporation’s Special Day at the 21st Abuja International Trade Fair organised by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture.
Sunday said the enhanced coverage was part of measures by the Corporation to strengthen confidence in the banking system and protect households, small businesses and other vulnerable depositors from the immediate consequences of bank failure.
Under the revised limits, the maximum insured deposit was increased to N5m per depositor per Deposit Money Bank (DMB) and Mobile Money Operator (MMO).
For Microfinance Banks (MFBs), Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) and Payment Service Banks (PSBs), the maximum insured limit was increased to N2m per depositor.
According to the NDIC boss, the enhanced limits were designed to provide broader protection for depositors while strengthening confidence in the financial system.
“For over three decades, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has remained a critical pillar of Nigeria’s financial safety-net architecture,” he said.
He explained that the Corporation’s mandate covers deposit guarantee, bank supervision in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria, failure resolution and bank liquidation.
These responsibilities, he noted, were critical to maintaining a safe, sound and resilient banking system capable of supporting economic activities.
Sunday said a thriving business required a trusted financial system that could safeguard working capital, facilitate payments and support access to credit for investment and expansion.
He added that the NDIC was also improving the process of reimbursing depositors whose banks had failed.
He said the Corporation had deployed technology, including Bank Verification Number (BVN), Single Customer View (SCV), NIBSS infrastructure and other digital solutions, to move away from cumbersome manual processes.
“Today, verified depositors of failed banks receive their insured deposits within days of bank closure,” he said.
For depositors whose balances exceed the insured limits, Sunday said the NDIC would continue to pay liquidation dividends from recoveries made through the collection of debts owed to failed institutions and the disposal of their physical assets.
He said the objective was to ensure that bank failure did not undermine public confidence in the financial system.
The NDIC boss said the Corporation had also repositioned itself from being merely a payer of claims after bank failure to a “Risk Minimizer” focused on identifying vulnerabilities early and preventing institutional problems from escalating into systemic crises.
To achieve this, he said the Corporation had continued to strengthen its institutional framework in line with global best practices.
The measures include the deployment of Risk-Based Supervision, an enhanced Differential Premium Assessment System, the Single Customer View Framework, a full Distress Resolution suite and the Bank Liquidation Management System.
He said the NDIC had also strengthened collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria and other members of the financial safety-net architecture.
Sunday, however, warned Nigerians against keeping substantial funds outside the formal financial system or entrusting their savings to unlicensed fund managers offering extraordinary returns.
He urged members of the public to verify the regulatory status of financial institutions and investment platforms before committing their funds.
“The proliferation and collapse of Ponzi schemes have demonstrated, time and again, the enormous financial and emotional cost of placing hard-earned resources in unregulated schemes,” he said.
He advised Nigerians to be cautious of investment offers that promise unusually high returns, stressing the need to ask questions and verify claims before investing.
The NDIC boss also disclosed that the Corporation had launched an upgraded website on September 19, 2026, as part of efforts to make depositor protection more accessible and technology-driven.
He said the new platform provides information on deposit insurance coverage limits, claims processing and institutions insured by the NDIC.
The website also features a Quick Action Bar providing access to services including filing claims, checking insured banks, reporting failed banks and accessing frequently asked questions.
According to him, the platform also incorporates an artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant to improve interaction with depositors and provide faster access to information.
Sunday urged depositors, creditors and shareholders of closed banks to take advantage of the Corporation’s digital platforms when processing their claims.
He also advised depositors to ensure that their account information was accurate and properly linked to their BVNs to facilitate faster reimbursement in the event of bank failure.
“Depositors no longer need to endure the inconvenience of visiting failed bank premises or NDIC offices for routine physical verification or carrying large volumes of documents from one location to another,” he said.
He stressed that technology and regulation alone could not guarantee financial security, identifying financial literacy as a critical first line of defence for depositors and business owners.
He urged businesses and members of the public to strengthen their financial literacy, embrace digital financial services responsibly, maintain sound financial practices and engage regulatory institutions whenever they require guidance.
“The more informed the public becomes, the stronger our collective capacity to build a resilient financial system,” Sunday said.
The NDIC chief executive said the Corporation’s interventions were particularly relevant to the broader objective of building a resilient and productive economy as Nigeria pursues the Federal Government’s vision of a $1tn economy by 2030.
The theme of the 21st Abuja International Trade Fair is “Resilience: Trade, Taxation and the Economy.”
