Financial Bonus for Bank of Ireland Life's SmartChoice Customers

- Planning for children's education is a major driver for regular savers -

Figures published today (Monday 9th August) by Bank of Ireland Life reveal that approximately Eur4 million has been allocated to Bank of Ireland Life's SmartChoice customers, through its innovative 25% loyalty bonus, since the regular savings product was launched in June 2003. SmartChoice is a stock market regular savings plan that offers customers the prospect of potentially higher returns than those available from a deposit savings plan. When a customer takes out a SmartChoice plan, Bank of Ireland Life invests an amount equal to 25% of the customer's annual contribution and customers will be entitled to this amount plus any growth on it provided that their contributions are maintained and paid regularly for a period of seven years. A customer saving Eur200 per month will be allocated a bonus of Eur600.

Since the launch, over 3,800 people have opened an account, saving an average of Eur3,207 per annum or Eur267 per month. Driving the popularity of SmartChoice, according to Bank of Ireland Life Marketing Manager, Gareth McQuillan, are parents saving for their children's education and in order to reflect this, Bank of Ireland Life has established a tailored product, SmartChoice Education.

"We have found that a significant number of our SmartChoice customers are looking for a way to cope with the impending financial burden of children's education. This burden can remain with parents for as long as 20 years - from primary school right up to completion of third level. Despite the abolition of fees at third level, Higher Education Authority (HEA) research shows that 64% of students rely on family for assistance during their college years, with the average monthly family contribution coming to Eur225", said Mr. McQuillan.

SmartChoice Education is a long-term investment plan, which offers a variety of different investment options to the customer, all managed by Bank of Ireland Asset Management. A key feature of the product is the 25% loyalty bonus based on the first year's investment. SmartChoice Education also offers the customer flexibility through payment breaks and partial withdrawals (of up to 6 monthly contributions).

In terms of customer profile, information from the Bank of Ireland Life database reveals that while single men are more likely to take out a regular SmartChoice investment plan (52% of SmartChoice customers are men and 46% are single), married women are more likely to take out the SmartChoice Education plan (54.5% of SmartChoice Education customers are women and 72% are married).

According to Mr. McQuillan, "When you consider that the cost of rearing a child is estimated to be up to Eur100,000 and that a significant proportion of this is down to the cost of education, most parents do need to start thinking about the most effective way to fund this from early on. There are approximately 169,000 families in Ireland with pre-school children so this issue affects a large proportion of the population."

Because it offers access to stock market-based funds, Smart Choice offers the potential for better long term returns than deposit based savings accounts. For example, based on a gross investment return of 6% per annum and assuming all criteria are met, if a customer makes regular contributions of Eur200 per month, on the seventh anniversary their SmartChoice Education plan would have a value of Eur18,938*. With interest rates on deposit accounts currently between 0.15% and 0.25%, giving an expected return of Eur16,928.84 over the same period, the potential for better returns is clear.

SmartChoice requires a minimum payment of Eur100 per month and has a minimum investment period of 7 years. All funds in the SmartChoice investment portfolio are managed by BIAM, and include managed funds such as the Balanced Managed Fund and the Evergreen Fund, as well as funds which combine higher risk with higher growth potential such as the Global Equity Fund, Smart Stocks 15 and Smart Stocks 35.

For further information, our SmartChoice brochure is available on request.

* Notes: The illustration assumes an investment return of 6% per annum. This rate is for illustration purposes only and is not guaranteed. Actual investment growth will depend on the performance of the underlying investments and may be more or less than illustrated.

For reference contact:
Gareth McQuillan
Head of Savings and Investments Marketing
Bank of Ireland Life
Tel: 01 6172360
Mobile: 086 8188413

Anne Mathews
Media Relations Manager
Group Corporate Communications
Bank of Ireland
Tel: 6043836
Mobile: 087 2460358