By Dickson Pat
Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation ,NDIC, and the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System ,NIBSS, Plc are set to formalise a strategic partnership aimed at improving the speed, efficiency and reliability of depositor reimbursement in the event of bank failures.
The proposed collaboration, to be sealed through a Memorandum of Understanding ,MoU, was disclosed by the Managing Director/Chief Executive of the NDIC, Thompson Sunday, during a courtesy visit by the NIBSS executive management team to the Corporation’s headquarters in Abuja.
Sunday said the MoU would consolidate the longstanding relationship between both institutions and strengthen Nigeria’s financial safety-net by leveraging technology to ensure prompt payment to eligible depositors when banks fail. He noted that the partnership aligns with NDIC’s core mandate of depositor protection and the broader objective of sustaining public confidence in the banking system.
He commended NIBSS for its critical role in modernising Nigeria’s payments infrastructure, particularly through the Bank Verification Number ,BVN, platform, which he said proved instrumental in facilitating seamless payments to depositors of the defunct Heritage Bank Limited.
According to him, the success recorded during the resolution of the failed bank underscored the need to institutionalise cooperation between both organisations.
“Without the support of NIBSS, it would have been difficult to achieve the milestone we attained with the closure of Heritage Bank, especially given the impromptu nature of the arrangement. This makes it important to concretise our partnership through this MoU”, Sunday said.
He explained that the MoU would cover key areas such as real-time synchronisation of NDIC’s deposit registers and electronic records to enable swift verification of eligible accounts during bank resolution.
Other areas include the expansion of disbursement channels for depositor claims to accommodate Mobile Money Operators ,MMOs, the possible deployment of an NDIC-branded mobile interface, as well as investment in Single Customer View ,SCV, and interoperability infrastructure to allow instant validation of depositor information.
Sunday further praised NIBSS for its contributions to fraud mitigation within the financial system, describing the payments platform as one that has positioned Nigeria ahead of many of its peers globally.
In his response, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of NIBSS, Premier Oiwoh, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to supporting NDIC in delivering its mandate of depositor protection.
He said NIBSS remains focused on providing the technological backbone required to ensure a secure, efficient and resilient payment system.
Oiwoh emphasised that prompt and efficient reimbursement of depositors during bank failures is critical to maintaining public trust and promoting financial inclusion. He added that NIBSS is working closely with law enforcement agencies to further enhance the security of the national payments infrastructure, while also strengthening its systems to reduce transaction costs across its platforms.
He noted that NIBSS exists to serve Nigerians and would continue to collaborate with key stakeholders to reinforce stability in the financial system.
According to a statement signed by Head of Communication and Public Affairs Department at the NDIC, Hawwau Gambo, the forthcoming MoU is expected to usher in a more digitised, responsive and technology-driven depositor reimbursement process, ultimately reinforcing confidence in Nigeria’s financial safety-net framework.
