ONEUNITED BANK ANNOUNCES NEW MORTGAGE PROGRAM AND ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN TARGETING URBAN COMMUNITIES

Celebrities and community supporters, Patti Labelle, Tavis Smiley and Malik Yoba, promote good news about urban communities, while Bank launches mortgage program to increase home ownership
and provide a safe haven from predatory lenders.

(AANEWSWIRE)LOS ANGELES - September 28, 2005 - OneUnited Bank ("OneUnited") announces its new single family mortgage program with a new advertising campaign featuring Patti Labelle, Tavis Smiley and Malik Yoba. The radio and print advertising campaign, which airs in Miami, Boston and Los Angeles, will share the good news about urban communities to offset the media's focus on its challenges and to ensure urban communities' work is respected and valued. The mortgage program provides tangible support to increase home ownership and provide a safe alternative to subprime and predatory lenders that take advantage of urban communities.

"Our message is to provide hope and help to communities that continue to be underserved and left behind", states Kevin Cohee, Chairman and CEO of OneUnited Bank. "Urban communities' successes are extraordinary in the face of challenged school systems, economic stagnation and racism. Knowledge of our successes can serve as a beacon of light for people who are struggling to succeed by providing visible role models that are critical in every community. Simultaneously, the Bank provides tangible investments in urban communities with our mortgage programs to provide a safe haven against predatory lenders and financial scam artists that pervade our communities."

OneUnited Bank is a certified Community Development Financial Institution that has received the highest award by the U.S. Department of Treasury for its community development lending for two consecutive years. In 2004, the Bank generated over $150 million in loans, over 40% of which were made in low to moderate-income communities. In 2005/06, the Bank is committed to lend an additional $200 million and expand its lending in Boston, Miami and Los Angeles. The Bank is launching its new single-family mortgage programs - UNITY Advantage, UNITY Smart and UNITY One - which caters to a spectrum of borrowers including first time home buyers and borrowers with perfect credit and less than perfect credit. With great rates and fees, the program provides an alternative to subprime lending which pervades urban communities. The Bank also offers a multi-family mortgage program designed to expand affordable housing and enhance multi-family properties, which are disproportionately in urban communities.

The Bank's radio advertising campaign - Good News Network and Heart & Soul - has received wide interest by celebrities and community supporters because it shares the communities' accomplishments with specific knowledge and facts. "It was very easy to obtain support for these community service announcements," states Jheryl Busby, Vice Chairman of OneUnited Bank, previous CEO of Motown Records and the visionary behind the campaign. "The campaign is really about promoting our communities - and Patti Labelle, Tavis Smiley and Malik Yoba have committed their lives to that cause. This campaign will continue for years with more celebrities, community leaders and successful business owners in urban communities - both African American and Latino."

OneUnited Bank (www.oneunited.com) is the first inter-state and largest African-American owned bank in the U.S. with over $500 million in assets and branches in Massachusetts, Florida and California. The Bank's mission is to be the premier bank serving urban communities by offering affordable financial services, while maintaining superior financial performance. The Bank has grown through a combination of organic growth and by acquiring community banks in Massachusetts, Florida and California that share its mission.
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