Bank of Boston receives "outstanding" community reinvestment act rating.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 1997--

Massachusetts and Rhode Island Banks Receive Top Rating

The First National Bank of Boston, a BankBoston Company, today announced that it has once again achieved the highest rating -- "Outstanding" -- for its most recent exam of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in Massachusetts. BankBoston's Rhode Island bank, Rhode Island Hospital Trust, also received an "Outstanding" rating.

The Community Reinvestment Act was enacted into law in 1977 and encourages banks to meet the credit needs of all of the communities they serve, including low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. A bank's CRA rating also takes into account its performance under fair lending laws.

"We are very proud to once again receive an 'Outstanding' rating for our CRA performance," said Chad Gifford, CEO BankBoston. "Achieving the highest CRA rating reflects our commitment to understanding the needs of all of our customers, developing innovative products, reaching out to previously underserved markets, creating partnerships within our communities and being leaders," added Gifford.

This "Outstanding" rating comes as a result of recent CRA reviews of the bank's operations by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The First National Bank of Boston evaluation cited many notable accomplishments including:

-- First Community Bank (FCB), BankBoston's "bank-within-a-bank" with a presence in eight urban Massachusetts communities including Boston, Lowell, Lawrence, Lynn, Springfield, Holyoke, Revere and Worcester. A national model for serving the banking and credit needs of inner-city communities, FCB is celebrating its seventh anniversary as the centerpiece of the bank's community banking program.

-- leadership in community development lending, including the financing of 200 units of affordable housing as part of the Lowell Square project in Boston's Old West End and committing nearly $100 million for working capital loans, lines and letters of credit to Malden Mills subsequent to a fire that destroyed a processing plant. Other community development efforts cited include the Centro del Salud Medico and the Memorial Parish House projects in Springfield, the Union Hill project in Worcester and the Bank's investment in the Massachusetts Housing Equity Fund.

-- taking a leadership role in developing and participating in several affordable housing and mortgage programs such as HouseBOSTON, designed to increase homeownership in Allston, Brighton and the Fenway sections of Boston; Community Link, which provides assistance to low-to-moderate income borrowers purchasing properties in the City of Lawrence; the Soft Second Program, through which, over the past two years, Bank of Boston provided more than $12 million in affordable mortgages in 15 urban communities throughout the Commonwealth; and CityHOME, a program that encourages and provides incentives to municipal employees in Boston and Worcester to purchase homes in those cities.

-- being the most active Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in Massachusetts. In fact, Bank of Boston, a preferred SBA lender, was awarded exclusive status for a new SBA "FA$TRAK loan program for small businesses. In addition, Bank of Boston developed a business credit card which was introduced in August 1996 and offers credit in the amount of $5,000 to $25,000 to small businesses.

In Rhode Island Hospital Trust's "Outstanding" rating, the OCC evaluation highlighted the bank's reinvestment initiatives including doubling Small Business Administration lending in 1996, which moved the bank to a number two market share position in Rhode Island, participating in affordable housing by financing 522 units at $10.2 million during the evaluation period and attaining more than six percent market share for all Housing Mortgage Disclosure Act originations.

BankBoston (NYSE:BKB), with assets of $62.3 billion as of Dec. 31, 1996, was founded in 1784 and is the 15th-largest bank holding company in the U.S. BankBoston is engaged primarily in commercial and consumer banking in New England, providing financing to selected corporations nationally and internationally, and full-service banking in key Latin American markets. The Company and its subsidiaries operate through a network of 650 offices in the U.S. and through more than 100 offices in 23 countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia, the third-largest overseas network of any American bank. The Company's common and preferred stocks are listed on the New York and Boston stock exchanges.

CONTACT: BankBoston

Diane Greer, 617/788-7823