By Ngozi Onyeakusi—- The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has  urged the banking public that the safest place to keep their money is the formal banking system.
This is because the NDIC protects their bank deposits.
The Managing NDIC, Mr Bello Hassan made this known today while  presenting his speech at the  NDIC special day at 34th Enugu International Trade Fair .

“The NDIC likes to reiterate to members of the public, particularly the teaming populace in the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprise (MSME) sector, and others in the informal segment of our economy that the safest, smartest and most prudent place to keep your money is in the formal banking system because the NDIC protects your bank deposits”, said Hassan.

Such deposits, he said  also enjoy the benefit of effective regulation and supervision of relevant authorities, and take people’s hard earned money beyond the ambit of illegal fund managers and loan sharks that currently awash the investment landscape and fleecing unsuspecting members of public.

Hassan assured  that as the unscrupulous elements get more and more creative in their ignoble acts, and as the NDIC and other regulatory bodies device more ingenious approaches to tackling their menace.

“It is pertinent for the Corporation to continue to sensitize the public on their expected roles towards protecting their bank deposits. Depositors are to ensure their phones have strong password and do not share their bank mobile app password with third parties; ensure no one is watching when they enter their PIN to perform transactions; ensure their token is secure and other parties do not have access to it; and ensure their debit card number and CVV are not exposed to people. Equally important is the need to avoid investment offers with quick and arbitrarily high returns”, he warned.

Speaking further, noted that NDIC has been living up to its responsibilities since inception.
“It is worthy to note that the Corporation has been successfully and efficiently discharging its mandates from inception till date, living up to its public policy objectives and contributing to financial system stability.

For instance, in the aspect of Deposit Guaranty, we are happy to state that NDIC has been highly responsive in providing coverage to all eligible deposits and accounts as they evolve in our banking system”, he said.

According to him,  apart from depositors of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) and Microfinance Banks (MFBs), the Corporation has also been responsive by extending deposit insurance coverage to depositors of Non-Interest Banks (NIBs), subscribers of Mobile Money Operators (MMOs) and the recently introduced Payment Service Banks (PSBs).

“Depositors of DMBs, PMBs, PSBs and subscribers of MMOs are insured up to maximum limit of N500,000.00 per depositor per bank while those of MFBs are guaranteed up to a maximum limit of N200,000.00 per depositor per bank”, he assured.