August 15, 2005 – A new survey of Canadian consumers who bank on the Internet shows that TD Canada Trust and Scotia Bank lead competitors in terms of online banking customer satisfaction.

The survey of 2,019 Canadians by Phase 5 Research showed that customers of TD Canada Trust and Scotiabank were more likely than any of the other “Big 5” Banks’ to be very satisfied with their online banking service. TD Canada Trust’s EasyWeb and Scotiabank’s ScotiaOnline customers were also more likely to feel that their online banking service provides excellent value.

“TD Canada Trust and Scotiabank are clear leaders in online banking satisfaction” said Dr. Arnie Guha, the study director and Senior VP at Phase 5. “While all the major banks are satisfying their online banking customers, these two banks stand out in terms of the proportion of customers who are truly delighted with the online channel.”

“These results are significant because our data clearly show that the online channel is of great importance to Canadians’ overall relationship to their bank,” Dr. Guha added. “For a large component of the 42% of Canadians who bank over the Internet, online customer satisfaction is customer satisfaction. Banks that fall behind in the online channel put their overall relationship with their customers at risk.”

The study also found that while all Big 5 banks perform well on basic online banking functionality, Canadians think there is substantial room for banks to improve how they use the Web to provide information on their products and services and to apply and purchase these products online.

“The data show that Canadian banks are not taking full advantage of the online channel as a way to deepen their relationship with existing customers. Customers are saying that banks can do more to provide effective online research, planning and application resources,” Dr. Guha said.

Other survey findings of note include:

• Scotiabank rated highest overall in terms of the ease of use and design of its Web site.
• Half of all Canadians who bank over the Internet with the Big 5 banks conduct at least three-quarters of their banking activities online.
• More than a third of Canadians who bank online have researched home or auto insurance online in the past year.
• Less than 20% of Canadian consumers who bank online used an online broker to purchase stocks, bonds, mutual funds.

About the Study

The Phase 5 Competitive Online Banking Report is the result of an online survey of 2,019 Canadians who banked online with one of Canada’s Big 5 banks. Data were collected online in June 2005. At an aggregate level, the results are considered accurate to within +/-2.2 %, 19 times out of 20.

For more information on the Phase 5 Competitive Online Banking Report, please contact:

Dr. Arnie Guha
Sr. Vice President
(416) 599-7555, ext. 231
arnieg@phase-5.com

Michael Dolenko
Partner
(416) 599-7555, ext. 224
michaeld@phase-5.com