720,000 account holders share in €10 Billion SSIA payout
Over 720,000 SSIA accounts with sums in the region of €10 billion will mature over the next 4 months, representing 66% of all SSIA accounts. These accounts will include an exchequer contribution in the region of €2 billion. In April alone, 538,000 SSIA accounts are due to mature and the declaration forms SSIA4 are issuing to all those account holders this month.
Revenue emphasise that SSIA account holders must return the SSIA4 declaration to their financial institution before the actual maturity date for accounts that mature over the next three months. If an individual does not receive an SSIA4 declaration within three months of the maturity date, they should contact their financial institution directly.
Revenue Chairman Frank Daly today acknowledged the co-operation of the financial institutions in ensuring a smooth and timely maturity process and also thanked account holders for their prompt action in completing SSIA4 declarations.
Mr Daly said: "There are 329 financial institutions managing these accounts including banks, building societies, insurance companies, credit unions and An Post. To date the SSIA maturity process has been progressing very satisfactorily and 363,000 SSIA holders have successfully matured their accounts. The average age of subscribers is 43 years of age, of these 14,500 are over the age of 80 and close to 3,000 are over the age of 90".
The income levels for account holders, based on available historical data, are fairly reflective of society as a whole, with 24% of account holders in the lower income bracket, 49% in the medium income bracket and 27% in the higher income bracket.
It is estimated that of the 1.1m accounts originally opened, in the region of 75% were deposit based and the remaining 25% were equity-based accounts.
The savings pattern changed as the scheme came into its final stages and the average subscription increased from €158 to €200 over the course of the scheme. This is also reflected in a noticeable increase in the number of subscribers contributing at the maximum of €254 per month, which increased from 37% at the start of the scheme to 51% by autumn 2006.
Further information on maturity of SSIAs.
[Ends 31/01/2007]