October 20, 2004

PEOPLE'S BANK TO PRESENT AT RYAN BECK & CO. INVESTOR CONFERENCE

BRIDGEPORT, CONN. - People's Bank (NASDAQ: PBCT), an $11 billion financial services company, today announced it will participate next week in the Ryan Beck & Co. Financial Institutions Investor Conference in New York City.

Philip R. Sherringham, People's chief financial officer, is scheduled to make a presentation scheduled to begin at 9:15 A.M. on Wednesday, October 27, 2004.

The live conference line call-in number is 1-800-236-9788. Presentation materials will be available in time for the presentation on People's Web site at www.peoples.com - Investor Relations - Investor Presentations, or at the Ryan Beck Web site at www.ryanbeck.com.

People's Bank is a diversified financial services company providing consumer and commercial banking services, in addition to insurance and financial advisory services. The bank is a leader in supermarket banking, with 65 of its 154 branches located in Super Stop & Shop stores. Through its subsidiaries, People's provides brokerage and financial advisory services, asset management, equipment leasing and financing, and insurance services.