The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has warned against the current trend of digital currency, Bitcoin, stressing that it is not a secure means of transaction.
It likened it to other wonder banks and pyramid schemes.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, speaking at the corporation’s special day at the Lagos International Trade Fair yesterday noted that investing in bit coin is as dangerous as putting funds in wonder banks.
Umaru who was represented by the Director, Claims Resolution, Mr. A.S Bello, said “the protection of the depositor remains our top priority. That is why we continue to stress the need for depositors to patronize only financial institutions that are licensed by the CBN and which display the NDIC Sticker with the words ‘insured by NDIC’ in their banking halls or entrances.
“It is for this reason that I must sound a word of warning against patronizing dubious fund managers, otherwise known as “Wonder Banks”. They persuade their unsuspecting victims to part with their hard earned money with promises of interest rates that are unrealistically high as the returns on their investments.
“The result is the loss of vital savings and sometimes disastrous consequences to the lives of the victims. Also the emerging trend of investing in digital currencies popularly known as Bitcoins is equally dangerous because just like the “Wonder Banks’, the digital currencies are not licensed by the CBN and are therefore not insured by the NDIC.”
He further added: “The Corporation has paid over N100 billion to depositors of liquidated ranks. The payments are not done in secret. NDIC has been publishing in newspapers, radio and television whenever insured deposits and uninsured deposits were due for payment.
“We implore those depositors who have not responded to our calls to come forward to collect their insured deposits and liquidation dividends already declared for uninsured deposits.”
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He also reiterated that NDIC had continued to be at the forefront of driving the key objectives of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) to reduce the percentage of adult Nigerians that do not have access to financial services from 46.3 per cent in 2010 to 20.0% by 2020.
“To this end, the Corporation has redoubled is efforts by providing an enabling regulatory and supervisory environment that ensures that the hard earned savings of small savers are protected. This is very vital to financial inclusion because the poor people need assurance that the licensed deposit taking institutions are safe and that they have access to their money whenever they need it.”
In his welcome remarks, Vice President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI ), Babatunde Oluwase, commended the government for the approval of the Collateral Registry Act and the Credit Registry Act which are to help small businesses in accessing credit.
He stressed the need to ensure that there was access to credit for the small businesses in the country as he noted that the private sector must be empowered to create more jobs in order to reduce the level of poverty in the country.
He applauded the government’s effort at ensuring ease of doing business even as he commended the NDIC for ensuring that depositors funds were safe, thus ensuring confidence in the Nigerian financial system.
