American Bank Reports 118% Asset Growth, Fifth Straight Quarter of Increased Earnings

CONTACT: Mark W. Jaindl, President and Chief Executive Officer
Allentown, PA, Tuesday, January 16, 2001

Allentown, PA, January 16, 2001 - American Bank (OTCBB: ABKA), a leading provider of Internet banking and financial services (pcbanker.com), today announced earnings for the quarter and twelve months ended December 31, 2000. Net income for the quarter was $204,300, or $.05 per share, an increase of $191,900 from the same period in the prior year. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2000, American Bank posted net income of $429,200, or $.12 per share, an increase of $547,000 from the same period in the prior year. This increase is primarily attributable to an increase of $127.2 million of earning assets, which was partially offset by a decrease of 17 basis points in the net interest margin since December 31, 1999.

President and CEO Mark Jaindl stated, "During 2000, the assets at American Bank increased by 118%, while the quality of our loan portfolio remained high with no non-performing assets at December 31, 2000. Although we currently have no non-performing assets, we did increase our loan loss reserves by $127,000 during the fourth quarter and by $475,000 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2000 as we recognize that a softening economy may result in future delinquencies."

Jaindl continued, "For the quarter ended December 31, 2000, our operating expense to asset ratio declined to 1.73% from 2.99% for the same period in 1999. By maintaining low operating expenses, we can consistently offer our customers attractive rates on loan and deposit products, including the 6.25% annual percentage yield we offer on our e-Checking account. Our goal is to attain an operating expense to asset ratio below 1.50% by the end of the fourth quarter of 2001, again allowing American Bank to offer some of the highest rates in the country on deposit products while improving earnings for our shareholders." American Bank's efficiency ratio improved to 67.6% for the three months ended December 31, 2000 compared to 94.5% for the same period in the prior year.

Chairman of the Board of Directors Frederick Jaindl stated, "We are pleased with the progress of American Bank during 2000. We made numerous enhancements to our web site, completed a $10 million public stock offering, and have been recognized by numerous third party advisors, including Gomez.com and Financenter.com for the services and products we provide. We remain committed to improving our online offerings and delivering products that make American Bank a leading financial provider on the Internet."

The number of accounts at American Bank has increased 145% since the beginning of 2000. With a firm commitment to offering some of the best rates available on the Internet, American Bank's 6.25% annual percentage yield e-Checking account remains a popular deposit product among its customers. American Bank, the first bank in the country to offer an annual percentage yield of 6.25% or higher on a checking account, has been able to maintain this rate as other online banks have lowered rates in an effort to become profitable.

American Bank common stock last traded at $12.00 per share and the American Bank warrants last traded at $4.75 per warrant. American Bank warrants are exercisable at $10.00 per share through June 30, 2003.

About American Bank
American Bank, a locally-owned community bank based in Allentown, PA, offers a complete selection of banking products and services to suit the needs of consumers and businesses and includes checking, money market, savings, certificates of deposit, consumer and commercial loans and Visa credit cards. American Bank is dedicated to providing customers superior, personalized customer service while offering some of the best loan and deposit rates available and as a result, has received the Bankrate.comŽ Top Tier award for consistently offering annual percentage yields (APYs) that were among the highest reported. Their online banking service, pcbanker, allows customers to bank conveniently and delivers a full range of real-time online banking services free of charge including online bill payment and presentment, ACH Direct, transfers between accounts, transaction history, check images and e-Statements. American Bank is FDIC insured.

American Bank Online is a registered mark and pcbanker.com is a trade mark for the Internet financial services provided by American Bank, a state-chartered, FDIC insured full-service financial institution serving customers throughout the United States. American Bank is a member of the Federal Reserve System.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained herein are not based on historical facts and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or periods, or by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as "may," "will," "believe," "expect," "estimate," "anticipate," "continue," or similar terms or variations on those terms, or the negative of those terms. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those related to the economic environment, particularly in the market areas in which the Bank operates, competitive products and pricing, fiscal and monetary policies of the U.S. Government, changes in government regulations affecting financial institutions, including regulatory fees and capital requirements, changes in prevailing interest rates, risks associated with the conduct of the Bank's business over the internet, credit risk management, asset-liability management, the financial and securities markets and the availability of and costs associated with sources of liquidity.

The Bank wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Bank wishes to advise readers that the factors listed above could affect the Bank's financial performance and could cause the Bank's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed with respect to future periods in any current statements. The Bank does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions that may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

For additional information, please contact Mark W. Jaindl, President and Chief Executive Officer.