Center Financial Now Offering Competitive No Fee Mortgage Loan Program.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2003

Center Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Center Financial Corporation (Nasdaq:CLFC), announced today that it is offering a competitive no fee mortgage loan program to the communities it serves through a strategic alliance with CBLX, the mortgage division of Fremont Bank. Fremont Bank, headquartered in Fremont, California, is a $1.5 billion institution that is one of the largest mortgage lenders in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Center Bank's mortgage loan program is based on a service fee income generating model, and because the bank is not the lender, the program poses minimal credit risk.

"I am delighted that we are able to offer a great line of mortgage loan products under a no fee based program that also offers competitive rates. This is another way for us to deliver highly attractive products to the communities we serve and, at the same time, add value to our banking business," Center Financial president and chief executive officer Paul Seon Hong Kim stated.

Center Financial Corp.

Center Financial Corp. is a publicly owned company whose stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol of "CLFC." Center Financial is a financial holding company, which became the parent company of Center Bank upon close of the holding company reorganization in October 2002.

Founded in 1986, Center Bank is a community bank offering a wide range of financial services. Center Bank changed its name to Center Bank from California Center Bank in December 2002. It specializes in commercial and SBA loans and trade finance products for multi-ethnic and small business customers. The Bank operates 12 branches throughout Southern California and four Loan Production Offices located in Phoenix, Seattle, Denver and Washington D.C. It is one of the largest financial institutions in the nation focusing on the Korean-American community. Further information about the Center Financial and Center Bank can be found at www.centerbank.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements, which are included in accordance with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expects," "plans," "intends," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue," or the negative of such terms and other comparable terminology. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statement. These factors include the following: general economic and business conditions in those areas in which the Company operates; demographic changes; competition for loans and deposits; fluctuation in interest rates; risks of natural disasters related to the Company's real estate portfolio; risks associated with SBA loans; changes in governmental regulation; credit quality; the availability of capital to fund the expansion of the Company's business; and changes in securities markets.

For any question related to this release, please contact James Ryu at [phone] or Mindy Chun at [phone].