Interac Association and Retail Council of Canada Announce Top Applicant of 2012 Retail as a Career Scholarship Program

TORONTO, June 5, 2012 /CNW/ - Interac Association and Retail Council of Canada (RCC) are pleased to announce the name of the top applicant of the 2012 Retail as a Career Scholarship Program, a program that honours students entering or enrolled in a business, marketing or retail-related program at a Canadian post-secondary institution.

Michaela Atkinson, currently enrolled at Ryerson University in Toronto, is the winner of the $5,000 scholarship, funded by Interac Association.

Ms. Atkinson was one of 22 post-secondary students from across the country awarded $1,000 scholarships to assist in their pursuit of retail as a career. Interac Association awarded an additional $5,000 scholarship to the top applicant among the 24 finalists.

"Interac Association is a committed partner of the retail industry and we are proud to work with the Retail Council of Canada to help name the top applicant of the 2012 Retail as a Career Scholarship Program," said Mark O'Connell, CEO & President, Interac Association. "We congratulate Ms. Atkinson on her winning submission and hope that this additional scholarship will help her achieve her educational and professional pursuits."

Over the past nine years, RCC and its sponsors have given more than $400,000 in scholarships and award benefits to students who exemplify excellence in retail and demonstrate a strong commitment to the future of retail through their education. The Retail as a Career Scholarship Program continues to grow each year, both in the number of applicants and in the number of retailers who provide the additional funding needed to increase the number of scholarships available.

"We are very grateful to Interac Association for its continued support of this very important award which will help Ms. Atkinson in her academic endeavours and pursuit of a career in retail," said Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO, Retail Council of Canada.  "I also want to thank all of our program sponsors for their generous contributions, which will help students further their education and develop the skills required to succeed in retail."

About Retail Council of Canada
Retail Council of Canada (www.retailcouncil.org) has been the Voice of Retail in Canada since 1963.  RCC is a not-for-profit, industry-funded association representing more than 43,000 store fronts of all retail formats across Canada, including department, specialty, discount, and independent stores, and online merchants.

About Interac Association

A recognized world leader in debit card services, Interac Association is responsible for the development and operations of the Interac^® network, a national payment network that allows Canadians to access their money through 59,000 Automated Banking Machines and 727,000 point-of-sale terminals across Canada.  Interac Association was founded in 1984 and is comprised of a diverse membership that includes banks, trust companies, credit unions, caisses populaires, merchants, and technology and payment related companies.

Other related services offered by Acxsys Corporation, whose shareholders are the architects of the Interac network, include: Interac Online, for secure online payments made directly from a bank account; Interac e-Transfer^TM, for the secure online transfer of money from one person's bank account to another person's bank account, and international services, which provide Canadian cardholders with point-of-sale access at nearly 2 million U.S. retailers, and PULSE, Discover, Diners Club International and UnionPay cardholders access to ABMs in Canada.

®, ™: Interac, and Interac e-Transfer are trade-marks of Interac Inc. Used under license.

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