News Releases

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 5, 2012) -

Editors Note: Photos for this release are available via Marketwire on the picture wire of The Canadian Press.

Torontonians are one-third of the way towards setting a Guinness World Record^® for assembling the largest soccer ball mosaic ever created. The record-breaking attempt is taking place at the BMO Score 1,000 event being held at Yonge-Dundas Square in Downtown Toronto.

The standing record for a soccer-ball mosaic is 47.7 m² (513 ft²). Toronto is aiming to beat that record before the end of the day, by placing more than 1,000 soccer balls in a mosaic that forms a 62.6m² (673.6 ft²) BMO logo.

By noon today, there were approximately 350 balls in place occupying close to 12.9 m² (136 ft²).

"It looks like we are well on our way to a world record," said Su McVey, Vice President, BMO Bank of Montreal. "And what a fun way to rally Toronto around a really great cause. If Toronto breaks the world record for the largest soccer ball mosaic today, a $30,000 donation to Kids Help Phone will be made by BMO, MasterCard and AIR MILES."

"There are still hundreds of balls to place and thousands of free giveaways, including more than 100,000 AIR MILES reward miles," said Ms McVey. "So, we are inviting the public to come on down to the BMO Score 1,000 event at Yonge-Dundas Square and help make history while supporting a very worthy cause."

This event is also being held to highlight the bank's summerlong BMO Gold AIR MILES MasterCard bonus offer. From now until August 31, 2012, BMO is offering 1,000 Bonus AIR MILES reward miles to all new BMO Gold AIR MILES MasterCard cardholders, enough for a round trip flight between Vancouver and Kelowna, Halifax and St. Johns, Toronto and Ottawa, and many other destinations across Canada and between Canada and the U.S.

B-roll footage will be available via satellite today, Thursday, July 5th at 16:00 - 16:15 Eastern

GALAXY 17 15K, Slot C Bandwidth 9.00 MHz

Uplink: 14304.5000 V

Downlink 12004.5000H

Sym: 6.1113

Fec: 3/4

To view the photos associated with this release, please visit the following links:

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20120705-803352_bmo_pic01.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20120705-803352_bmo_pic02.jpg

About Kids Help Phone

Since 1989, Kids Help Phone has been Canada's leading online and phone counselling service for youth. It's free, it's anonymous and confidential, and it's available any time of the day or night, 365 days a year in English and in French. Professional counsellors support the mental health and well-being of young people, ages five to 20, by providing one-on-one counselling, information and resources. As a community-based national charity, Kids Help Phone receives no core government funding and relies on community and corporate support to fund its essential and vital service.

About BMO and Soccer

BMO's commitment to soccer extends throughout communities across Canada, with more than 15,000 youth house league soccer players proudly wearing "BMO" on their jersey. As a partner of the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), BMO supports Canada's Men's and Women's National teams. As well, BMO is the premier sponsor of Toronto FC, the Montreal Impact and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

BMO^® Team of the Week is a contest that rewards youth soccer teams that display team pride, spirit, community commitment and passion for the game. Youth soccer teams across the country between the ages seven to 12 are eligible to win $125,000 to refurbish their community soccer field, a trip for the whole team and other great weekly prizes.

About the AIR MILES^® Reward Program

Founded in 1992, the AIR MILES Reward Program is Canada's premier coalition loyalty program with more than 10 million active Collector accounts, representing approximately two-thirds of all Canadian households. AIR MILES Collectors can earn reward miles simply by doing their everyday shopping at more than 220 leading brand-name Sponsors, representing thousands of retail and service locations across Canada and leading global brands online. Collectors can indulge in more than 1200 leisure, entertainment, merchandise, travel and a range of accredited, environmentally-friendly lifestyle rewards. With AIR MILES Cash, Collectors can also have the flexibility to instantly redeem their AIR MILES reward miles in-store towards many everyday and high value purchases like gas, grocery, drug store items and home improvement purchases at participating Sponsors.

About MasterCard Worldwide

MasterCard (NYSE:MA), www.mastercard.com, is a global payments and technology company. It operates the world's fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard's products and solutions make everyday commerce activities - such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances - easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter @MasterCardNews, join the discussion on the Cashless Conversations Blog and subscribe for the latest news.