TORONTO, ON - June 01, 2016 /CNW/ - Scotiabank today was recognized as one of two banks to earn the highest overall score for Canadian mobile banking functionality by Forrester Research Inc.'s 2016 Canadian Mobile Banking Functionality Benchmark.

In its annual benchmark published in May 2016, Forrester evaluated the mobile banking capabilities of the five largest retail banks in Canada across 40 criteria including the range of customer touch points, enrollment and log-in, account and money management, transactional features, service features, cross-channel guidance, and marketing and sales.

"Our customers expect innovative, world-class digital banking solutions that make it easier for them to do business with us," said Jeff Marshall, Head of the Digital Factory at Scotiabank. "I believe that this recognition from Forrester validates that we are on the right path. We will continue to create the kind of digital experiences that exceed our customers' needs today and into the future."

Forrester's benchmark specifically cited Scotiabank for providing a range of clear, user-friendly account management tools and among banks that help customers 'reach other channels through branch and ATM finders and phone numbers'. In addition, Forrester recognized Scotiabank for providing "a searchable help feature from the pre-login screen and offers a list of the most popular questions."

"I believe that this year's benchmark highlighted the value to customers of simple, easy-to-use, and secure features for many different touchpoints, device types and mobile browsers," continued Marshall. "Eighty percent of the banking transactions done in Canada today are done outside of the branch, and so we have worked hard to make alternative ways to bank and pay easy and accessible for customers. We are especially proud of our searchable help feature from the pre-login screen, and most often asked questions for which was noted in this year's benchmark by one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world."

Scotiabank is rapidly adopting digital innovation across all of its customer touch points -- as well as its supporting corporate processes and systems -- to increase effectiveness, reduce friction points and improve efficiency. Some examples of Scotiabank's digital transformation include:

• Dramatically improving the speed and simplicity of onboarding process for mortgages, credit cards, day-to-day accounts, and small companies.
• In our international markets, upgrading and expanding our online and mobile banking platform to offer enhanced and more personalized services to customers, such as online advice, tools and pre-approved solutions.
• Investing $185 million in a new core banking technology system in Mexico to make it easier for employees to provide excellent customer service and advice, while enabling us to serve all of our customer segments more efficiently.
• Investing $100 million to upgrade technology and tools, including tools for use with the iPad®¹ mobile digital device, across the Canadian retail network for better scanning and imaging.
• In Canada, connecting Wealth Management offerings -- such as investment advice and estate planning -- through a single digital platform, to reduce silos and reduce pain points for our customers.

This is the 2^nd year in a row that Scotiabank has been recognized with the highest overall score for Canadian mobile banking functionality by Forrester Research Inc., and one of several honours that Scotiabank has received in recent months for digital innovation. For example, Scotiabank was named the Best Consumer Digital Bank in North America by Global Finance magazine and was the only Canadian bank to be recognized in the final round of Global Finance's Best Digital Banks of 2015. Scotiabank also tied for first place in 8 of 13 Ipsos Best Banking Awards 2015 among the Big 5 Banks, including the "Branch Service Excellence" award.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 23 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 89,000 employees and assets of $895 billion (as at April 30, 2016), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). Scotiabank distributes the Bank's media releases using CNW. For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

¹ ® iPad is a trademark of Apple Inc.