The Nigerian Government has announced an increase in the Maximum Deposit Insurance Coverage for banks operating in the country, as revealed by Bello Hassan, Managing Director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), during a recent briefing with journalists.
The new coverage benchmarks entail a significant rise across various financial institutions: Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) from N500,000 to N5 million, Microfinance Banks from N200,000 to N2 million, Primary Mortgage Banks from N500,000 to N2 million, and Mobile Money Operators’ subscribers from N500,000 to N5 million per subscriber.
Hassan emphasized that this adjustment aims to enhance depositor safety, bolster public trust, promote financial inclusivity, and strengthen the overall stability of the financial sector.
This increase marks a substantial shift from previous benchmarks. Initially set at N50,000 in 2006, the coverage limit was raised to N200,000, and a limit of N100,000 was established for Microfinance Banks (MFBs) and Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs) depositors in the same year.
Subsequently, in 2011, coverage limits for DMBs were further increased to N500,000, while MFBs and PMBs saw their limits raised to N200,000.
Further adjustments followed, with PMB depositors and subscribers of licensed Mobile Money Operators seeing their coverage level increased to N500,000 in 2016.
In 2020, coverage was extended to depositors of Payment Service Banks (PSBs) at the N500,000 level, while the coverage for DMBs remained unchanged at N500,000.
