Scotiabank, Microsoft to Cobrand Portal

Bank of Nova Scotia and Microsoft Canada Co. are building a cobranded financial services Internet portal for consumers and small businesses as part of a wide-ranging set of agreements intended to give a boost to electronic commerce in Canada.

Scotiabank and Microsoft also said this week that they would offer small businesses Web site design and hosting, merchant payment products, and electronic marketing services through Microsoft Canada's MSN LinkExchange. The service has helped 1,000 small businesses get on-line.

In the consumer arena, Scotiabank also has agreed to become the premier, though not exclusive, banking partner of Microsoft's MSN.ca portal site.

The Toronto-based bank elected to work with Microsoft to reach the 250,000 daily users of the Canadian MSN portal and 2.5 million users of the Hotmail electronic mail service, said Peter Godsoe, chairman and chief executive officer of Bank of Nova Scotia. A bank spokesman added that Microsoft's name lends credibility and consumer confidence to the bank's Internet efforts.

The cobranded portal would include banking and brokerage services from Scotiabank, and news, personalized financial calculators, and other information from Microsoft. Mr. Godsoe said specialized portals would eventually be created for professional groups and associations, with specific services designed for each group.

Microsoft and Scotiabank are each making an initial investment "in the millions" and will add more funding for ongoing developments, the companies said. Services should be up and running by yearend.

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