Bank of Nova Scotia and Scotia Capital have been named the “Best Internet Corporate/Institutional Bank” in Canada by international financial magazine Global Finance, the bank said Monday.

The magazine also recognized Scotiabank Jamaica and Scotiabank Dominican Republic with “Best Consumer Internet Bank” awards in its World’s Best Internet Banks competition in Latin America.

The rankings will be published in the September 2009 issue of Global Finance.

“As more and more customers turn to internet banking to meet their financial needs, staying up-to-date with technology in applications such as ScotiaFX, Scotia Prime Brokerage and Scotia Capital Online, is extremely important in ensuring that we are delivering the highest level of service for our customers,” said Mike Durland, group head, global capital markets and co-CEO, Scotia Capital.

The awards honour successful and innovative online banks throughout the world. Judging criteria is based on strength of strategy for attracting and servicing online customers, success in getting clients to use web offerings, growth of online customers, scope of product offerings, evidence of tangible benefits gained from Internet initiatives, and website design and functionality.

“In less than a decade, the Internet has transformed the way many consumers and most businesses bank,” said Joseph 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.”

IE