TORONTO, ON - July 28, 2014 /CNW/ - Scotiabank has been recognized by Global Finance Magazine as the 2014 Best Consumer Internet Bank in 22 countries across the Caribbean and Central America. In North America, the Bank received top honours in the Best Online Deposit, Credit and Investment Product Offerings regional sub-category.

"As Canada's most international bank, we are proud to have been recognized by Global Finance for the quality of our online banking and customer service," said Bruce Bowen, Scotiabank Senior Vice President, Caribbean. "At Scotiabank, one of our priorities is to make it easier for our customers to do business with us. Our online banking platform, which allows customers to bank when and where they want, is an important part of how we are delivering on that."

The countries where Scotiabank is being recognized as Best Consumer Internet Bank include: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos and the US Virgin Islands.

Winning banks were selected based on the following criteria: strength of strategy for attracting and servicing online customers, success in getting clients to use web offerings, growth of online customers, breadth of product offerings, evidence of tangible benefits gained from Internet initiatives, and web site design and functionality.

"The Internet has transformed the way many consumers and most businesses bank," said Joseph D. Giarraputo, publisher of Global Finance. "The continuing improvements in Internet offerings represented by this year's entries show that more significant Internet banking developments are still ahead of us."

All of the first round winners will be featured in the September issue of Global Finance magazine and can be found on the magazine's website at www.gfmag.com.

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading financial services provider in over 55 countries and Canada's most international bank. Through our team of more than 86,000 employees, Scotiabank and its affiliates offer a broad range of products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking to over 21 million customers. With assets of $792 billion (as at April 30, 2014), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York (NYSE: BNS) Exchanges. Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using CNW. For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.

For media inquiries:

Scotiabank - Media
Patty Stathokostas
416-866-3625
patty.stathokostas@scotiabank.com