Scotiabank has joined the ranks of CIBC, Royal Bank, HongKong Bank of Canada, and Credit Union Central of Canada as well as the five following financial institutions that recently joined Mondex -- Bank of Montreal, Canada Trust, Le Mouvement des caisses Desjardins, National Bank of Canada, and TD Bank. Mondex is now represented by most of the deposit-taking financial institutions market in Canada.
"Chip cards will no doubt play a significant role in payment systems of the future. Scotiabank has joined Mondex because we feel it’s in our customers’ best interests for us to keep abreast of all emerging chip market technologies," said Bob Lounsbury, Scotiabank’s Vice-President of Card Products and Marketing.
In welcoming Scotiabank to the Canadian alliance, members of Mondex Canada said in a joint statement, "Mondex is now represented by all major financial institutions in Canada and is well positioned to achieve great success as a new payment system. We look forward to working together to put Mondex on the map in Canada and in offering Canadians this convenient and powerful new payment alternative."
Michael Keegan, Chief Executive Officer, Mondex International Limited, said, "I am delighted that Scotiabank has joined Mondex Canada. Mondex is building up tremendous momentum in Canada and around the world. There is a growing list of financial institutions involved with Mondex as it rapidly becomes the world standard for electronic cash."
Mondex is a payment smart card which brings together the advantages of paying by cash with the convenience of paying by card. The system is being introduced by major financial institutions in conjunction with retailers and telecommunications companies around the world. Mondex can be used in place of cash to make payments instantly and conveniently at participating merchants or by phone. Mondex is the most ‘cash-like’ of various electronic payment systems and unique in that its technology platform allows for person-to-person transfer of electronic cash that is not reported to a central computer system. For example, it means that Mondex electronic cash can be used to pay taxi cab drivers, hot dog vendors, baby-sitters and for door-to-door deliveries. Mondex Canada is part of Mondex International Limited, an independent global payments company owned by MasterCard International and 26 other major companies in North America, Europe, southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
Scotiabank is one of North America’s premier financial institutions with more than $176 billion in assets and more than 34,500 employees worldwide. It is also Canada’s most international bank with 1,468 branches and offices in 48 countries on five continents. Scotiabank is on the World Wide Web at www.scotiabank.ca.
For further information please contact:
Patti Jordan, Scotiabank, 416 866 6203. Nancy Evans,
Environics Communications, 416 920 9000 ext. 274. Joe
Clark, Mondex Canada, 416 440 0430, Gerry Hopkinson, Mondex
International Ltd. 44 (0) 171 557 5016