"Paper consumption is a major component of Scotiabank's environmental footprint because of our extensive customer communications, administrative and documentation processes," said Kaz Flinn, Vice-President, Corporate Social Responsibility, Scotiabank. "Each year, more customers perform transactions online and select Scotia OnLine's paperless options, helping us reduce paper consumption."

The Bank embarked on its paperless banking campaign in 2006, with strong customer acceptance to reach the one million mark. With paperless recordkeeping, Scotia OnLine customers choose not only to forego day-to-day banking statements, but also to do without passbook updates.

"Scotiabank is committed to continue our efforts to provide customers with more options to receive and convert their bank documents to electronic equivalents," said Jason Charlebois, Vice-President, Self-Service Banking, Scotiabank.

Scotiabank's paperless banking option provides customers with Scotia OnLine transaction histories of up to 18 months, as well as free electronic images of cheques cleared within 90 days. The concept is not only good for the environment, it also helps reduce clutter around the house and spares customers from having to file or shred monthly statements. Scotia Online customers can sign up anytime by selecting the "Change Recordkeeping Option," or by calling 1-800-4-SCOTIA (1-800-472-6842).

Also, some 350,000 Scotiabank customers have registered to receive their bills electronically through Canada Post's epost service, which sends paperless credit card, utilities or other monthly bills directly to their online accounts.

"Scotiabank is actively promoting paperless banking options to customers where appropriate," added Ms. Flinn. "In addition to reducing our environmental footprint, we recognize that careful management and reduction of our paper consumption can help reduce our operating costs."

Earlier in 2008, Scotiabank introduced a new Environmental Paper Policy, detailing the Bank's commitment to further integrating environmental considerations into its purchasing decisions, setting a reduction target for paper use and expanding recycling programs in its international operations. The Bank has also made a commitment to purchasing multi-functional office equipment - which combines devices such as photocopiers, printers and fax machines into single units - in order to enhance energy efficiency and reduce the consumption of paper.

The new paper policy expands Scotiabank's conversion to the use of products certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), adding bond copy paper - a significant portion of overall paper purchases - to the Bank's growing inventory of FSC-certified paper supplies, including envelopes, business cards and corporate publications, such as annual reports. The Policy is available at www.scotiabank.com/csr.

In 2008, Scotiabank also provided financial support to WWF-Canada for its work with the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), which has committed to a goal of achieving industry-wide carbon neutrality- without carbon offset credits - by 2015.

Internationally, Scotiabank is introducing technologies and processes that deliver both operational efficiencies and environmental benefits. For example, Scotiabank also offers Internet banking in the Caribbean, as well as Central and South America. In Jamaica, 50,000 customers complete about 120,000 logins per month and in Chile, more than 58,000 retail and 12,200 business clients perform monthly transactions, resulting in more than 38 million online transactions in 2008.