National Bank President favours strategic partnership for opening up access to the Canadian payment system

As part of a conference organized by the Canadian Payments Association (CPA), Réal Raymond, President and Chief Executive Officer of National Bank of Canada, today presented the strategy developed by his institution to facilitate access to payment services: strategic partnership.

For Mr. Raymond, the kind of partnership that has enabled the Bank to make its services and payment tools accessible to non-banking institutions such as Promutuel, Investors Group, Great-West Life, London Life and Assante, is a winning formula that allows this type of service to be offered to a larger number of players in the financial market.

In addition to providing easy access to National Bank payment tools, partnership means that these institutions can concentrate on what they do best, namely, selling and distributing insurance, mutual funds and other related products.

Mr. Raymond also talked of the advantages that this kind of access represents for partners' clients and, in particular, for the partners themselves, since their overall operational costs are substantially reduced. For its part, the Bank is able to reach its partners' clients, who number in the millions, to offer them its banking products. Partnership also increases the profitability of the payments system by offering new possibilities for growth on the Canadian market. In short, it is a win-win situation, with each partner reaping the benefits.

During his speech, Mr. Raymond reminded his audience that the federal government's interest in opening up the Canadian payments system in 1980 was in response to the wishes of Canadians who wanted more competition. Over the past 20 years, regulatory changes encouraged the entry of new players, such as foreign banks, insurance companies and mutual fund companies. In spite of this liberalization, however, few new entrants have joined the traditional players.

In conclusion, Mr. Raymond paid tribute to the current participants who, in recent years, have launched numerous innovations with the help of the CPS to improve the effectiveness of payment tools in the Canadian system. One such innovation that he mentioned was outsourcing, which has developed considerably as non-bank players often use it to offer their clients their own payment options.

A copy of Mr. Raymond's address can be found on our website at internet www.nbc.ca under Corporate Information, Public Statements.

About the National Bank of Canada

National Bank of Canada is an integrated group which provides comprehensive financial services to consumers, small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations in its core market, while offering specialized services to its clients elsewhere in the world. The National Bank offers a full array of banking services, including retail, corporate and investment banking. It is an active player on international capital markets and, through its subsidiaries, is involved in securities brokerage, insurance and wealth management as well as mutual fund and retirement plan management. The National Bank has assets of over $75 billion and, together with its subsidiaries, employs over 17,000 people. The Bank's securities are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (NA:TSX). For more information, visit the Bank's website at www.nbc.ca.

Information :

(the telephone number and e-mail address provided below are for the exclusive use of journalists and other media representatives):

Denis Dubé
Manager, Public Relations Department
National Bank of Canada
Tel.: (514) 394-8644
E-mail: denis.dube@bnc.ca