The Bank of Ireland is offering some SSIA account holders a 25 per cent incentive for a period of six months if they continue to put regular savings into its new products aimed at maturing funds.
The incentive will be available to people who invest at least half of their SSIA lump sum into the bank's Special Bonus Investment Plan and commit to saving with the Bank of Ireland for another three years.
Research by the bank shows that a real propensity to save has been created by the SSIA scheme and that 80 per cent of customers intend to continue saving when the scheme ends.
Some 42 per cent of people intend to invest some or all of their lump sum, the bank says, and 60 per cent of all SSIA customers are prepared to save for the long term, or at least for more than two years.
Following the maturity of SSIAs, the average likely level of savings per person will be €175 per month, potentially generating €2 billion in savings annually, the bank says.