Mobile Money customers can rest easy as the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has included mobile money operators in its insurance coverage.
The Managing Director, NDIC, Umaru Ibrahim, disclosed this during the NDIC’s special day at the 33rd Lagos International Trade Fair yesterday. He said the insurance covers mobile money subscribers to the maximum limit of N500,000.
“One of the most significant achievements of the corporation is the provision of the deposit insurance coverage to subscribers of Mobile Money Operators to the maximum limit of N500,000 through the pass-through deposit insurance framework.”
Mr Ibrahim said the corporation provides insurance coverage for depositors of deposit money banks, non-interest banks and primary mortgage banks who will be reimbursed up to a maximum limit of N500,000 while microfinance bank depositors would be reimbursed up to a maximum limit of N200,000.
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The NDIC, whose function, according to the NDIC Act 2006, is to serve as an insurer of deposits for financial institutions so that in the event of failure, the depositors don’t lose all their savings, said the Central Bank licensed 23 Mobile Money Operators and as at June, the number of Mobile Money subscribers stood at over 9.2 million people.
“As it stands, the number of licensed MMOs by the Central Bank of Nigeria is 23, with eight being bank-led and the remaining 15 non-bank-led. As of 30th June, 2019, the number of subscribers to the MMOs stood at 9,249,265.”
Meanwhile, the NDIC periodically reviews the insured limits through its board to ensure that majority of depositors are covered. The establishment of the NDIC can be attributed to the renewed confidence of depositors in the quality of the Nigerian financial system.
However, the NDIC as of June said it received a total number of 35 petitions and complaints from bank customers on various issues such as the ATM frauds, unauthorized fund transfers, and cheque related issues. The managing director said investigations were carried out where necessary and customers’ issues were appropriately solved.