Five Star Bank to Open Two Branches in the City of Buffalo

Federal and State Regulatory Approvals Received

WARSAW, N.Y., Feb. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Five Star Bank (the “Bank”), subsidiary of Financial Institutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISI) (the "Company"), announced today that it has obtained approvals from state and federal banking regulators to open two new branches in the City of Buffalo. The branches will be located at 2222 Seneca Street and 451 Elmwood Avenue.

President and Chief Executive Officer Martin K. Birmingham said, “We are very pleased to announce this expansion of Five Star Bank. The new locations will help us grow our branch network in the important Buffalo market, making us more accessible to residents and businesses, and enable us to deliver our style of community banking to these communities. Our associates will offer a robust set of products and services designed to meet the needs of our customers and deliver education, advice and solutions to help them to improve their financial well-being.  

“The new branches will be situated in vibrant commercial corridors and extend the reach of Five Star Bank’s distribution system in both northern and southern directions from our downtown Fountain Plaza branch. The Seneca Street branch addresses a gap in availability of banking services and the Elmwood Avenue branch will be part of the adaptive redevelopment of the former Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. Both branches are expected to open within the next twelve months.”

About Five Star Bank and Financial Institutions, Inc.

Five Star Bank provides a wide range of consumer and commercial banking and lending services to individuals, municipalities, and businesses through a network of more than 50 offices throughout Western and Central New York State. Additional Five Star Bank information is available at , on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Five Star Bank, SDN Insurance Agency, LLC (“SDN”), Courier Capital, LLC (“Courier Capital”) and HNP Capital, LLC (“HNP Capital”) are subsidiaries of Financial Institutions, Inc. SDN provides a broad range of insurance services to personal and business clients. Courier Capital and HNP Capital provide customized investment management, investment consulting and retirement plan services to individuals, businesses, institutions, foundations and retirement plans. Financial Institutions, Inc. and its subsidiaries employ approximately 700 individuals. Financial Institutions, Inc. stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol FISI. Additional information is available at .

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release may contain forward-looking statements as defined by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that involve significant risks and uncertainties. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “seek,” “see,” “will,” “would,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “target,” “preliminary,” or “range.” Statements herein are based on certain assumptions and analyses by the Company and factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in or implied by such statements for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to: the Company’s ability to implement its strategic plan, whether the Company experiences greater credit losses than expected, whether the Company experiences breaches of its, or third party, information systems, the attitudes and preferences of the Company’s customers, the Company’s ability to successfully integrate and profitably operate SDN, Courier Capital, HNP Capital and other acquisitions, the competitive environment, fluctuations in the fair value of securities in its investment portfolio, changes in the regulatory environment and the Company’s compliance with regulatory requirements, changes in interest rates, and general economic and credit market conditions nationally and regionally. Consequently, all forward-looking statements made herein are qualified by these cautionary statements and the cautionary language in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed with the SEC. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to revise these statements following the date of this press release.

Contact:

Shelly J. Doran   (585) 627-1362 or