Paper

Scotiabank has an Environmental Paper Policy, which details the Bank's commitment to integrating environmental considerations into its purchasing decisions. The policy has helped establish Scotiabank as a leader in environmentally friendly paper-purchasing practices. Since the policy was established in 2008, consumption of bond copy paper in Scotiabank's Canadian operations has been reduced by 23%. Scotiabank will continue to focus on reduction initiatives in 2013.

Measuring and reducing paper consumption

Since 2006, Scotiabank has reported paper usage within our Canadian operations. The numbers are broken down by major category, calculating total weight and annual increase or decrease in consumption (see chart below). In 2009, the Bank began reporting on bond copy paper consumption data in some international locations. To date, data is available for Mexico, Peru, Chile, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic and St. Vincent. Together with Canada, these countries represent more than 80% of Scotiabank's global operations.

Different countries have different ways of reporting consumption. The Bank's goal is to improve data collection methods to ensure consistent and comparable data across geographic regions.

Scotiabank paper consumption — Canada (tonnes)

Scotiabank Paper Consumption – International (Bond Paper)

Paper savings and online banking

Online banking at Scotiabank has continued to increase each year, helping to reduce printing of statements and other banking documents. Online banking is also increasingly popular in most of the countries where the Bank operates. In 2012, Scotiabank was named Best Consumer Internet Banking (Canada) by Global Finance magazine.

2012 highlights:

• In Canada, Scotia Online had approximately 4.3 million registered users.
  • Through Scotia Online, a paperless recordkeeping option for our day-to-day customers is provided. Paperless is the default recordkeeping option for all new day-to-day accounts.
  • Small business customers, together with ScotiaConnect Online customers, are now able to view their statements online. In addition, Scotia Online small business customers can switch to paperless recordkeeping.
• In 2012, Scotiabank was named Best Consumer Internet Bank in 19 countries by Global Finance magazine. The awarded countries were: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts& Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and, the US Virgin Islands.
• Across the Caribbean, Scotia Online had approximately 440,000 registered users and Scotia Mobile had 120,000 users.
• In Mexico, online banking had approximately 536,000 registered users.
• In Peru, online banking had approximately 265,000 registered users.
• In Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, Scotiabank offers electronic credit card and deposit statements as well as paperless recordkeeping.

Other internal paper-saving highlights:

In 2012, the introduction of new technology and internal processes resulted in significant paper savings.

• During 2012 we added 145 Lexmark MultiFunction Devices (MFD's) and 481 printers to the Bank's Canadian operations, bringing our total installed to 2,882 MFDs and 6,132 printers. Utilizing the duplexing capabilities of these devices in all areas of the Bank, we have reduced paper consumption by an additional 12% in fiscal 2012 and reductions continue throughout the Bank as new MFDs and printers replace older printers.
• Further leveraging the MFD capabilities, Global Wealth Management has recently implemented a new MFD-based scanning solution for client applications, reducing paper and physical archiving requirements while optimizing process times for clients.
• Online requisitioning for stationery supplies and business forms for all Canadian branches and subsidiaries continues to eliminate the need for paper, which amounted to a savings of 56,462 sheets in 2012.
• Scotiabank has eliminated approximately 95% of the paper used by retail and small business customers' borrowing applications in Canada by using "fax-to-image" technology. We are now adapting this technology in other areas of the Bank.
• Scotiabank is continuing to expand the Image Retrieval and Information system (IRIS) for branch employees to access reports and documents in electronic format. In 2012, the number of printed reports was reduced by 3%, representing over one million pages of paper annually. Additional capabilities are being introduced in 2013 that will integrate electronic workflow and scanning with the IRIS platform allowing more reports and documents to migrate to electronic format.
• Through the Paper Automation and Reduction for the Environment (PARE) initiative, a long-term strategy developed by the Centralized Accounting and Administration Units in Canada to systematically review processes and reduce or automate paper flow into and out of the units, the Bank was able to eliminate selected paper reports and forms entirely by using online viewing platforms.
• Collaborative tools have been launched, such as Microsoft Sharepoint and Scotiabank Live, which allow employees to share documents without printing them.
• Since 2009, Scotiabank Economics has eliminated the printing of its reports. The Economics team publishes more than 20 reports on a daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. The distribution lists for these reports range from 400 to over 2,000 recipients who receive the reports in electronic format only. The publications are also available on scotiabank.com.
• Scotiabank's Business Innovations Group, a team dedicated to applying new technologies to enhance customer service, is developing digital marketing, electronic brochures, scanners and electronic signature pads to reduce branch paper use.