First Niagara Bank Signs Multi-Year License Agreement with Financial Profiles; Company to Deploy Profiles+™ Professional with Asset Allocation to its Wealth Management Group

Business Wire, July 17, 2006

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Financial Profiles Inc., the standard for planning and advice solutions, announced today that First Niagara Bank has signed a multi-year license agreement to deploy its comprehensive Profiles (TM) Professional solution with Asset Allocation to the firm's wealth management group.

Headquartered outside Buffalo, N.Y., First Niagara Bank employs more than 1,800 people in 123 branches across New York State, and is listed on the NASDAQ Financial-100 Index.

"We are committed to a community-oriented philosophy that enables us to offer personal and commercial banking as well as investment and insurance products through banking centers, ATMs and financial services subsidiaries," said Annette Kajtoch, Program Manager and First Vice President for First Niagara Bank. "Using Financial Profiles' planning and advice software will significantly enhance our ability to solve each of our client's unique financial needs quickly and effectively."

Profiles Professional gives bank representatives the power and flexibility to handle a diverse cross section of customers. The modular presentation and analysis format allow financial services professionals to foster a collaborative relationship. First Niagara's use of the Asset Allocation module also allows their wealth management group to classify assets.

Financial Profiles' planning solutions have demonstrated their ability to improve customer relationships and sales. A recent survey of 100 independent reps shows that nearly 50 percent witnessed an increase in sales from using Financial Profiles' solutions, with more than 20 percent of those advisors seeing sales rise anywhere from 25 to 50 percent. Nearly 60 percent of the advisors surveyed also garnered one to five customer referrals from each client who had received a financial plan created using Financial Profiles' applications.

"Banks have the unique ability to identify other opportunities to service their customers, and technology providers like us need to help them do so productively and successfully," said William Landes, Vice President of Sales at Financial Profiles, Inc. "We are committed to making it easy for financial services firms, like First Niagara Bank, to identify and solve more of their clients' needs in order to realize increased sales and customer loyalty."

About Financial Profiles, Inc.

Financial Profiles offers the financial services industry comprehensive financial advice software, consulting, training and support services. The company began in 1969 and today works with many nationally recognized financial services organizations. For more information about Financial Profiles' products and services, visit the company's Web site at www.profiles.com.

(C) 2006 Financial Profiles Inc. All rights reserved. Profiles is a trademark of Financial Profiles Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.