Bank of Ireland has said it will continue to offer a 25% bonus for six months to SSIA savers who continue putting money into one of its new stock market investment products.
The top-up will be available to those who invest at least half of their SSIA lump sum into the Special Bonus Investment Plan and commit to saving for another three years. They must also invest at least three times their annual new regular savings contributions upfront. For example, someone saving €200 a month must invest €7,200 initially.
The minimum amount which must be invested is €50 a month. There is no maximum. The bank says there will be no charges applied to the SSIA lump sum transferred into the fund, but there will be a premium charge of 2.75% on the regular savings and a fund management fee of 1.5% a year.
The bank is also offering a special bonus savings account, which will offer an interest rate 1.5 points above the ECB rate - 3.75% at the moment - for 18 months for those who continue to save at least €20 a month in that period.
The bank's maturing SSIA deposit accounts will automatically transfer to a lump sum account which will pay interest of 3% for the first three months and the ECB rate thereafter. BoI is also offering short-term bond and special term account products for SSIA savers.
The bank announced the new products as it produced its latest research, which showed that 80% of SSIA customers intended to continue savings when the scheme ends, with only 17% intending to spend all of their money.
