Bankia Using Spiderman Towels To Lure Young Investors Amid Crisis

MADRID, May 30 (Reuters) - Nationalised Spanish lender Bankia is offering a Spiderman towel to young investors as part of a drive to hold onto deposits after being taken over by the state in the biggest bank rescue in Spain's history.

The bank, which holds around 10 percent of Spanish deposits, is offering the prize to youngsters if they manage to save 300 euros ($380) by the end of the month. For every 50 euros saved, account holders can enter a draw for a trip to New York.

The drive to push up deposits comes as competitors such as online bank ING Direct embark on aggressive advertising campaigns to poach accounts after a report of a deposit run in early May after the state takeover was announced.

New Chief Executive Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri said on Saturday the situation had normalised since then and he expected deposits to be higher in June than they were at the end of last year.

Spain's fourth largest bank is in line for a 23.5 billion euro state rescue after it became clear the lender could not handle losses stemming from a property crash and compounded by a recession.