The Deposit Insurance Corporation (DIC) has reaffirmed its commitment to safeguard depositors from loss of their bank deposits in case of bank failure, collapse or closure in the country.
Speaking in Blantyre on Monday during a workshop organised for Association of Business Journalist (ABJ) members, DIC director general Chitani Chigumula said the firm has made strides to protect depositors.
“We have revised the [deposit insurance] coverage from K1 million in 2023 to K3 million in 2026. The coverage is per depositor and not per account,” he said.
Chigumula said the company is also making progress in the collection of premiums from commercial banks.
“All of them are in the right standing with us in terms of status and compliance with the Insurance Corporation Act,” he said.
Chigumula said in the 2024/25 fiscal year, the fund had K8.8 billion and by close of 2025, it has grown to K20 billion.
“Our goal is to reach K150 billion worthy of the insurance fund to meet all our objectives,” he said.
ABJ deputy secretary general Edith Gondwe thanked DIC for imparting knowledge to business journalists.
“This knowledge will help us to write informed stories that will also enable depositors to have a better understanding of the same,” she said.
Current members of DIC in Malawi include all commercial banks that are licenced and regulated by the Registrar of Financial institutions.
Established in 2023 under the Deposit Insurance Corporation Act 2022, DIC is a statutory body that provides protection to depositors against risk of losing their eligible deposits following failure or closure of a bank.
Types of deposits eligible for this protection include savings, current or demand and fixed/time deposits that are up to K3 million per depositor per bank, subject to revision from time to time.
The K20 billion fund can cater for depositors for at least two commercial banks in unlikely event that their financial institutions have collapsed or failed.
