Galway residents are among the luckiest holders of Prize Bonds, having won more than €900,000 in prizes last year. This is according to The Prize Bond Company Limited, which administers Prize Bonds on behalf of the National Treasury Management Agency, and which has published its 2015 Annual Report.
Galway’s total winnings of €910,300 were won by 15,327 bond holders. Every second month a Prize Bonds customer wins a €1 million prize in the last draw of that month (February, April, June, August, October and December ). In other weekly draws the top prize is €50,000. Other cash prizes awarded each week include prizes to the value of €1,000, €100 and €50.
Prize Bonds remain as popular as ever with strong sales in 2015 contributing to a 14% increase in the fund value to over €2.481 billion, the highest in the history of the Prize Bonds scheme. Gross sales in 2015 were €551.5 million, reflecting continued confidence and interest from customers in Prize Bonds as a secure investment option. Repayments of Prize Bonds during the year totalled €252.8 million, representing an increase of 11.3% on last year’s repayments (2014: €227.2 million ).
Currently over 8,000 prizes are issued weekly and the number of cash prizes won by customers in 2015 was 389,033. During 2015 The Prize Bond Company also invested in a new sales processing system to make repeat purchases of Prize Bonds easier for customers.
Prize Bonds are a State savings product which, instead of paying interest, offers bond holders the chance to win cash prizes every week. All winnings are tax-free, and Prize Bonds can be cashed in at any time after the minimum holding period of three months.
