Deposit Insurance Corporation (DIC) has embarked on an initiative to raise awareness on its mandate and operations in the country.
Established under the DIC Act of 2022, the parastatal provides guarantee that all or part of customers’ deposits shall be paid following any commercial bank’s failure.
It is one of the mechanisms employed by governments and regulators to promote the stability of financial systems as well as to protect small depositors from potential losses due to failure of banks.
On Monday, the corporation engaged frontline workers, especially bank tellers from various commercial banks in the Southern Region with the message and is expected to replicate the same in other regions.
Its director general Chitani Chigumula said currently members of the deposit insurance scheme in Malawi includes all commercial banks that are licensed and regulated by the Registrar of Financial Institutions.
“In future, the Board of DIC may prescribe other categories of financial institutions to be members of the deposit insurance scheme. Our main objective is to provide protection to depositors against risk of losing their eligible deposits arising from a failure or closure of a bank, thereby maintaining public confidence in the banking system. We have engaged these bankers so that they know what is expected of them in accordance with the DIC Act,” Chigumula said.
One of the participants working with NBS Bank, Gift Gordner, said the workshop was an eye opener.
“This is good because we will have an understanding of the law as we undertake our duties every day,” Godner said.
