Key Points

• The deposit insurance awareness among small savers campaign targets traders, artisans, and low-income earners nationwide.

• NDIC now insures up to ₦5 million for commercial banks and ₦2 million for microfinance banks.

• The initiative aims to deepen trust, protect savings, and expand financial inclusion.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) is working harder to get small savers to know about deposit insurance. They are now reaching out to everyday depositors, such as traders, artisans, and civil servants who manage small bank accounts.

According to a report by Vanguard news, Mrs. Hauwa Gambo, the NDIC’s Director of Communication and Public Affairs, spoke at a recent meeting at Wuse Market in Abuja. She said that the regulator wants to make sure that even the least knowledgeable banking customer understands how the deposit-guarantee system works.

Gambo said that a lot of Nigerians either leave their money in informal savings accounts or don’t know if their bank is covered by NDIC’s plan. She said, “We are focussing on small savers and traders who may not fully understand how banking works to keep them safe.” The campaign is part of a bigger effort to build trust, promote financial inclusion, and make sure that deposits are safe all over the country.

Teaching small savers about deposit insurance

The NDIC’s program is based on its National Financial-Inclusion Strategy and is being put into action in major cities like Lagos, Kano, Rivers, and Anambra, as well as in markets and town halls, often in local languages.

The scheme’s coverage limits were made clear to the public again: deposits of up to ₦5 million in commercial banks and ₦2 million in microfinance or payment-service banks. According to the NDIC, these numbers show full protection for the vast majority of depositors.

Mrs. Gambo stressed that “even if a licensed bank fails, the NDIC guarantees that insured depositors will be reimbursed up to the coverage limit.” She said that it is very important for people to know about this protection. The agency’s section on facts and figures says that the insured limit for deposit-money banks is ₦5 million and for microfinance banks it is ₦2 million.

Building trust by making people aware of deposit insurance

Mr. Thompson Oludare Sunday, Managing Director of NDIC, and Dr. Kabir Sabo Kataka, Executive Director (Operations), have both said that the message about deposit guarantees is just as important as the mechanism itself.

At the opening of the NDIC management team, Mr. Sunday said that the corporation needs to build public trust by making sure depositors know their rights. Dr. Kataka also said that more literacy among small savers helps keep the system stable and stops people from running on banks.

Dr. Adeola Yusuf, an analyst and Senior Research Fellow at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), said that the NDIC’s renewed campaign to raise awareness of deposit insurance among small savers could help many people who don’t use formal banking services get access to them. She did say, though, that awareness needs to go hand in hand with punishing unlicensed operators and reaching out more to people in rural areas.

Protecting savings and making inclusion stronger

For people who want to make deposits, the message is clear: keep your accounts with licensed institutions, look for NDIC-insured signs, and know what your protection limits are.

For banks and regulators, getting more “small savers” to know about the safety net makes it stronger and helps make the financial system more stable. If the campaign is successful, it could change the way low-income depositors and formal banks in Nigeria trust each other, one story and one saver at a time.