NDIC Urges Businesses to Use Regulated Banks, Warns Against Ponzi Schemes

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has urged businesses and members of the public to keep their funds with licensed and regulated financial institutions to safeguard their savings and strengthen confidence in the banking system.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive of the NDIC, Thompson Oludare Sunday, gave the advice on at the Corporation’s Special Day during the 21st Abuja International Trade Fair organised by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture.

Speaking on the theme of the fair, “Resilience: Trade, Taxation and the Economy,” Sunday said a resilient financial system was critical to supporting businesses, particularly through the protection of working capital, payment services and access to credit for investment and expansion.

He said the NDIC had remained a key pillar of Nigeria’s financial safety-net architecture for more than three decades through deposit guarantee, bank supervision in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria, failure resolution and bank liquidation.

According to him, the Corporation’s enhanced deposit insurance coverage, introduced in 2024, now provides coverage of up to ₦5 million per depositor per Deposit Money Bank and Mobile Money Operator, while depositors in Microfinance Banks, Primary Mortgage Banks and Payment Service Banks enjoy coverage of up to ₦2 million.

He said the enhanced limits provide full coverage for more than 98 per cent of depositors across insured institutions, protecting households, small businesses and other vulnerable depositors from the immediate impact of bank failures.

For depositors whose balances exceed the insured limits, the NDIC boss said the Corporation would continue to pay liquidation dividends from recoveries made from debts owed to failed institutions and the disposal of their physical assets.

Sunday also disclosed that the NDIC had transformed its reimbursement process through technology, including the use of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), Single Customer View (SCV), NIBSS infrastructure and other digital solutions.

He said verified depositors of failed banks could now receive their insured deposits within days of a bank’s closure, describing the development as part of the Corporation’s transition from a claims payer to a “Risk Minimizer”.

He said the NDIC had strengthened its institutional framework through initiatives including Risk-Based Supervision, an enhanced Differential Premium Assessment System, the SCV Framework, Distress Resolution suites and the Bank Liquidation Management System.

The NDIC chief executive, however, warned Nigerians against keeping substantial funds outside the formal financial system or entrusting their savings to unlicensed fund managers offering unrealistic returns.

He said the collapse of Ponzi schemes had repeatedly demonstrated the financial and emotional consequences of investing in unregulated schemes.

“If an investment promise sounds too good to be true, Nigerians should pause, ask questions and verify before committing their money,” he advised.

Sunday further announced that the NDIC had launched an upgraded website on September 19, 2026, designed as a one-stop digital gateway for depositors and other stakeholders.

He said the platform provides information on deposit insurance coverage limits, automated claims processing and an updated directory for checking NDIC-insured institutions.

The website also features a Quick Action Bar providing access to services including filing claims, checking banks, reporting failed banks and accessing frequently asked questions, as well as an AI-powered virtual assistant.

Sunday urged businesses and the public to improve their financial literacy, use digital financial services responsibly and maintain sound financial practices.

He said informed depositors and business owners would contribute to building a stronger and more resilient financial system capable of supporting Nigeria’s economic growth and the Federal Government’s vision of a $1 trillion economy by 2030.