Scotiabank's official credit card of the NHL offers fans great hockey rewards and discounts

TORONTO, March 28, 2012 /CNW/ - Scotiabank has another way for National Hockey League (NHL) fans to show their team colours with the launch of the new ScotiaHockey NHL VISA card - which lets Canadian hockey fans personalize their credit card with their favourite NHL team's logo and earn great hockey rewards and discounts at the same time.

"As 'Canada's Hockey Bank' our on-going goal is to continue to create new ways to enrich the hockey experience for our customers and Canadian hockey fans alike," said Anatol von Hahn, Scotiabank's Group Head of Canadian Banking. "Loyal hockey fans across Canada have many ways of supporting their favourite NHL team, whether it be bumper stickers, jerseys or hats to face and body painting. The ScotiaHockey NHL VISA card gives passionate fans another way to display support for their favourite NHL team and get exclusive offers and rewards while they're at it."

With the new ScotiaHockey NHL VISA card, NHL hockey fans can:

• Personalize their credit card with one of 30 NHL team designs or the NHL Shield
• Accumulate rewards points that can be redeemed for NHL game tickets, official apparel and merchandise. Every dollar spent on the credit card earns one reward point
• Receive 20 per cent savings on most purchases at Shop.Canada.NHL.com
• For a limited time, earn five times the rewards points on all purchases at Sport Chek^®* and SportChek.ca, and get a free skate sharpening at Sport Chek with an in-store purchase
• Receive a special signing bonus of 3,000 points with their first purchase
• Redeem points at myscotiahockeyrewards.com

"It's important to us to offer our customers rewards that are meaningful to their specific needs and interests," said Mike Henry, Scotiabank Senior Vice-President and Head of Retail Payments, Deposits and Lending. "The new ScotiaHockey NHL VISA card does this for loyal NHL fans; they can choose the team logo that goes on their card and take advantage of the rewards and benefits that are relevant to their love of hockey."

Other Scotiabank rewards programs include:

• SCENE: Canada's first-ever entertainment rewards program for movie-goers works in partnership with Cineplex Entertainment
• Scotia Moneyback Account: Rewards customers with a one per cent cash back on their debit card purchases
• Scotia Momentum VISA cards: Suite of credit cards offer customers a variety of cash back reward options giving them the flexibility to choose the account that best fits their lifestyle.

"The ScotiaHockey NHL VISA card enables fans to interact with the NHL and their favourite team more deeply than any previous League affinity card by allowing fans to earn amazing NHL experiences and hockey relevant rewards,"  said Keith Wachtel, SVP Integrated Sales, NHL. "The ScotiaHockey NHL VISA card is a great way for fans to proclaim their fandom, and then in return be rewarded for it."

Canadian hockey fans can apply for the ScotiaHockey NHL VISA card and start enjoying its benefits by visiting a local Scotiabank branch or by going to scotiabank.com/scotiahockeyvisa. To learn more about the ScotiaHockey NHL VISA card, please visit myscotiahockeyrewards.com.

About the National Hockey League
The National Hockey League, founded in 1917, is the second-oldest of the four major professional team sports leagues in North America. Today, the NHL consists of 30 Member Clubs, each reflecting the League's international makeup, with players from more than 20 countries represented on team rosters. According to a Simmons Market Research study, NHL fans are younger, more educated, more affluent, and access content through digital means more than any other major professional sport. The NHL entertains more than 250 million fans each season in-arena and through its partners in national television (NBC Sports Network, NBC, TSN, CBC, RDS, and NHL Network™) and radio (NHL Radio™, and Sirius XM Radio). Through the NHL Foundation, the League's charitable arm, the NHL raises money and awareness for Hockey Fights Cancer™ and NHL Youth Development, and supports the charitable efforts of NHL players. For more information on the NHL, log on to NHL.com.

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and Canada's most international bank. With more than 77,000 employees, Scotiabank and its affiliates serve some 19 million customers in more than 55 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a broad range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With assets above $637 billion (as at January 31, 2012), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com

Scotiabank is very proud to be Canada's Hockey Bank and is the Official Bank of the NHL^®, NHLPA^®, NHL Alumni™, CWHL, Winnipeg Jets^™, Toronto Maple Leafs^®, Calgary Flames^® whose home arena is the Scotiabank Saddledome, and the Ottawa Senators^® whose home arena is Scotiabank Place. The Bank also has a partnership with the Montreal Canadiens^®. Scotiabank has a long tradition of supporting hockey in Canada from local teams and minor hockey associations to professional players and leagues. Across Canadian communities from coast to coast, Scotiabank's Community Hockey Sponsorship Program reaches out to more than 3,700 minor hockey teams and leagues. To find out more about Scotiabank's hockey programs, please visit www.facebook.com/scotiahockeyclub.

About VISA
Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable digital currency. Underpinning digital currency is one of the world's most advanced processing networks—VisaNet—that is capable of handling more than 20,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and guaranteed payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com.

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^TM Trademarks of The Bank of Nova Scotia
NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks and NHL Alumni is a trademark of the National Hockey League.  NHL and NHL team marks are the property of the NHL and its teams. All Rights Reserved
^* Visa Int./Lic. user The Bank of Nova Scotia
^®* Registered trademark of FGL Sports Ltd. All rights reserved.