Westfield Bank Rated Outstanding in Recent Community Reinvestment Act Exam

WESTFIELD, Mass., Oct. 16, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Westfield Bank (the "Bank"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Westfield Financial, Inc. WFD announced the results of the Bank's recent Community Reinvestment Act ("CRA") exam conducted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the "OCC"), the Bank's primary regulator. President and CEO, James C. Hagan, stated "I'm very proud to share that the Bank received an Outstanding Rating as a large institution with total assets of $1.3 billion as of 3/31/2013 from the OCC during our recent CRA exam." Hagan continued by saying "The Outstanding Rating is the highest rating a bank can receive and represents the Bank's commitment to our communities in several performance areas, which includes lending, investments, and services."

The CRA is intended to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low and moderate income neighborhoods.

Some of the major factors that support the rating for the Bank for lending were the Bank's level of lending activity within its assessment area; the distribution of small loans to businesses and home mortgage loans by income level of the borrower and geography as well as community development lending.

The Bank had an excellent level of qualified investments and donations totaling $7.4 million in the areas it serves during the timeframe and evaluation of the CRA exam and exhibited excellent responsiveness to credit and community economic development needs. Accessibility to the Bank's delivery system was excellent based on current hours and locations.

The Bank is a leader in providing community development services. Bank management and employees have spent a significant number of hours providing financial and technical expertise to 16 different qualified community development organizations or programs. The Bank is also involved in programs such as the Basic Banking for Massachusetts Program, which expands access to bank products and services and encourages those with modest income to establish banking relationships.

Hagan stated "I am very proud of this rating and accomplishment, but most importantly I am proud of the team of professionals that I lead and the strong support from the members of the Bank's Board of Directors. This CRA evaluation speaks clearly to our commitment not only to the communities' credit needs, but also to the overall growth and development of these communities."

About Westfield Financial and Westfield Bank

Westfield Financial, Inc. is a Massachusetts-chartered stockholding company and the parent company of Westfield Bank, Elm Street Securities Corporation, WFD Securities, Inc. and WB Real Estate Holdings, LLC. Westfield Financial and its subsidiaries are headquartered in Westfield, Massachusetts.

Westfield Bank is a full-service community bank offering the products, services and conveniences of a big bank in a local and personalized way. Westfield Bank is able to meet the needs of retail banking customers from childhood to retirement, and business customers small and large. Westfield Bank has 11 full-service banking centers and 1 Residential Loan Center in western Massachusetts and 1 banking office in Granby, Connecticut. More information on Westfield Bank can be obtained at www.westfieldbank.com or by calling 1.413.568.1911.