WAYNE, N.J., July 22 /EMWNews/ -- Valley National Bancorp

(NYSE: VLY) ("Valley"), the holding company for Valley National Bank,

announced that SNL Financial ranked Valley's home equity loan portfolio the

8th best-performing portfolio among publicly traded banks and thrifts with

more than $100 million in home equity lines of credit on their books during

the twelve months ended March 31, 2008 based on a combination of low

delinquency rates and net charge-offs.



    At June 30, 2008, Valley's $538 million home equity portfolio

consisting of over 14,200 loans continued to perform well, with only 11

loans past due 30 days or more. These delinquent loans totaled $727

thousand or 0.14 percent of the total home equity portfolio at June 30,

2008 as compared to $1.1 million or 0.21 percent of the portfolio at March

31, 2008. Gerald H. Lipkin, Chairman, President and CEO of Valley noted

that, "These numbers continue to demonstrate the strong performance of our

loan portfolio and management's dedication to high loan underwriting

standards in a time when many bank analysts are anticipating more bad news

about home equity losses and delinquencies from the financial sector."

    About Valley



    Valley is a regional bank holding company with nearly $14 billion in

assets, headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey. Its principal subsidiary,

Valley National Bank, currently operates 193 branches in 131 communities

serving 14 counties located in northern and central New Jersey, Manhattan,

Brooklyn and Queens through its principal subsidiary, Valley National Bank.

For more information about Valley National Bank and its products and

services, please visit http://www.valleynationalbank.com or call Customer Service

24/7 at 1-800-522-4100.



    Forward-Looking Statements



    The foregoing contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of

the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are

not historical facts and include expressions about management's confidence

and strategies and management's expectations about new and existing

programs and products, relationships, opportunities, taxation, technology

and market conditions. These statements may be identified by such

forward-looking terminology as "expect," "believe," "view," "opportunity,"

"allow," "continues," "reflects," "typically," "usually," "anticipate," or

similar statements or variations of such terms. Such forward-looking

statements involve certain risks and uncertainties. Actual results may

differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Factors that may

cause actual results to differ from those contemplated by such

forward-looking statements include, among others, the following:

unanticipated changes in the direction of interest rates; stronger

competition from banks, other financial institutions and other companies;

changes in loan and mortgage prepayment assumptions; insufficient allowance

for credit losses; a higher level of net loan charge- offs and

delinquencies than anticipated; a decline in the economy in Valley's

primary market areas, mainly in New Jersey and New York; a decrease in loan

origination volume; and operational risks, including the risk of fraud by

employees or outsiders and unanticipated litigation pertaining to Valley's

fiduciary responsibility.